#like you get introduced to the world and 100% it's got an awesome villain and great character arc with edmund

[amphiptere]

what are everyone’s ranking order for the narnia books. as a kid mine was 5-7-3-4-6-1-2, or something like that, with each number denoting the chronological order. now I have come to my senses about the seventh and I’m midway through a grown-up reread but I think it’ll be something like 5-3-6-1-4-2-7.

[gemwing1988]

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage Review

Hi, everyone! This Gemwing1988 here, and today’s November 2nd, the anniversary of the sequel of the Spyro the Dragon game and my most favourite game in the franchise — Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (or Gateway to Glimmer in the U.K. for the original PS1 release).

I was first introduced to the game when my nana and late grandfather purchased a PlayStation 1 and several games for me and my sisters to with during our stay with them in the summer. I remembered I got to play it the very first time when my parents, sisters and I went over to visit with them for a couple of days before Christmas. Spyro 2 was one of them.

Ironically, it was the very first Spyro game I started out with and I loved it, thus my love for the franchise and dragons in general ignited.

After getting the first game and playing it, I actually prefer Tom Kenny voicing in the sequel. Of course, I have a headcannon that Spyro must have went through puberty where his voice changed when the developers decided to give him a different voice actor for some reasons, kinda like with Ratchet in between Ratchet & Clank and it’s sequel, “Going Commando” for the PS2.

Anyway, after reading the old booklet manual that gives us a cute summary about the small recap of Spyro’s first adventure and winding up in the mystical world of Avalar and some information of all of the colourful characters, my interest was piqued.

I was really hooked into the game. I loved the compelling story and the humour thrown in and the beautiful music. My personal favourites are the musical pieces for the hub worlds, Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra. I also enjoyed the music for Dragon Shores once you completed the game at 100% and Glimmer, the level that started it all.

After getting my own copy of the Reignited Trilogy, I actually preferred some of the redesigns of the characters in Avalar, most especially Ripto, who looks much more menacing and much more serious regardless of his infamous temper tantrums over his original design. But hey, you can’t go wrong with nostalgia, right? 😅

I really love how the game has plenty of cutscenes that keeps us up to date with the villain’s activities once we defeated the boss, ranging from Ripto escaping from falling debris accidentally caused by Gulp who was trying to squeeze in from underneath a tight fitting door and supposedly falling to his demise before moving to the next hub world to take over the castle (as well as literally kicking Moneybags out, who is obviously hiding in there for obvious reasons concerning Ripto, with zero results).

While we get deeper depths of Ripto’s personalty in these cutscenes, we really don’t get that much out Gnasty Gnorc as he fondly got a few lines in the opening cutscene in the first game and all he does is lose his cool when one of the dragons puts him of being “simple and not a threat” to the dragons, and really lost it when the dragon carelessly called him ugly (well, he’s not wrong there, but still…).

In the sequel, we are introduced to new features, mainly the super power-ups that grant Spyro the ability to enhance his fire breath, charge attack and enabling him to fly for a short period of time. These power-ups can only be activated if you defeat several enemies scattered throughout the levels, releasing Spirit Particles that are the power-ups’ source of energy.

The newer features also enabled Spyro the ability to swim underwater, climb up and down climbable walls and smash rocks by diving horns-first into them. Those are pretty awesome abilities to contain, right? Yes, but there’s a downside to how to obtain them.

For those who dislike or downright right despise Moneybags, he is sadly your means to obtain these awesome abilities. And, let me tell you, he really charges a lot. And it most certainly doesn’t help that he will also charge you a heavy amount of gems as payment for him to allow you further passage to progress further in the game and to activate certain portals such as the Speedways in Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra.

Well, worth every gem and Moneybags does face some karma where Hunter sits on him while Elora gives back all the gems to thank Spyro for helping her and the others, all the while apologising to Spyro on Moneybags’ behalf on charging him so much.

As selfish as he had been throughout the game, Moneybags wasn’t nearly as bad as how he was portrayed in the second sequel, Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon. And he was a well-deserved Karmic Butt-Monkey throughout the cutscenes in there, and the feature where you get to torch him out of your hard works’ collecting gems and rescuing a dragon egg from being carelessly sold off to an auction makes it all-so satisfying for all of the fans. 😈

While nowhere Moneybags’ level of karmic humiliation throughout Year of the Dragon, but I think Ripto more or less suffer a lot of humiliation himself ranging between his minions accidentally flattening him upon his arrival in Avalar, getting his rump roasted and cape singed by Spyro, who stopped him from serving Zoé the Fairy as a snack for Gulp, and this here with Crush. 😂🤣

Oh, and let’s not forget Gulp accidentally eating his sceptre in the following scene of this particular clip.

Ripto: Gulp! You imbecile! You ate my sceptre! 😡😡

Of course, it would be considered second place in the top 10 funny moments in the game in comparison to this particular gem in the opening cutscene in Autumn Plains after you defeated Crush.

Moneybags: (scoffs) That Ripto had caused enough damage! If it hadn’t been for Spyro, I’d be bankrupt! If Ripto were here, I’d give him a piece of my mind! 😤

*Unknown to Moneybags, Ripto, riding atop of Gulp’s head, approaches him from behind, somehow entering the castle before him somehow.*

Moneybags: In fact, I’ll give him more than that. I was champion bantamweight boxer back at university and I still know a few moves. 😏

*He starts to throw a few punches as a demonstration.*

Moneybags: Take that! And that!

*He punches over Gulp’s jaw and winds up finding himself face to face with Ripto himself as he leans slightly towards him.*

Ripto: (simply) Boo. 😈😈

Moneybags: (screaming like a little girl as he jumps and stumbles back unknowingly to the ledge) 😱😱😱!!! Why you, you-! 😰

*He then tips over the edge and falls down below, screaming.*

Classic! 😂🤣

While collecting all 14 Talismans throughout the game is the main priority, collecting Orbs are very important too as they unlock special side quests, open up portals, grant passage into the final boss level and collecting all of them will also allow you permanently obtain the Super Flame Power Up in Dragon Shores, which would be make the infamous Earth Shapers side quest with Hunter a breeze in a new game slot if you’d ever want to replay the game with a clean slate, or so I read on the TV Tropes website.

And lastly, you obtain skill points which will unlock a charming storybook epilogue featured in your Guidebook that gives the players a Where Are They Now look on the characters and NCP’s in the aftermath of Ripto’s defeat and they’re doing.

I also love the colours and design of the worlds you visit. Again, the hub worlds, Glimmer and Dragon Shores are my favourites.

Speaking of Dragon Shores… After you completed playing all the carnival games and rides, you earn special tokens that allow you watch all of the cutscenes from the game at the Dragon Shores Theatre like a movie at the cinema. How awesome is that? 😁

Oh! And when Elora the faun mentioned that the Orbs are important, they can do so much more than reactivated portals and open up side quests. Apparently, they can also provide Spyro VERY special power ups that you never seen in the previous levels courtesy of the Professor in Ripto’s boss level.

But you’ll need to be quick because the moment Hunter drops them to assist you, Ripto will swipe the nearest Orb and abuse its magic to give him a brief power up himself. And let me tell you, it was bad enough when he was armed with a new sceptre he had made from the stolen Power Crystal meant for the Super Portal to send Spyro home. 😓

Still an epic boss level though. 😅

I also love the friendship chemistry between Spyro and the Main 4 of the Avalarians. Hunter, at first, started out to doubt Spyro’s prowess and capabilities due to his small size and dismissively suggested Spyro should torch Ripto while collecting the Talismans himself. But throughout the progress of the game, the cheetah who had lost his running shoes but has a great hand at archery eventually became one of Spyro’s closest friends and valuable ally in later games.

Zoé also proofs to be a great asset in Spyro’s adventures, serving as his checkpoint, saving the players’ progress and teleport him back to the last place he met her if he loses a life. She will also occasionally give spout some important information such as using the flame breath on larger enemies, about the Spirt Particles and even about the extra special Power Up Orbs in the final battle.

Spyro also gets on well with the Professor, who also has his hand in giving out side quests and praises Spyro (and to the extant, the players) to the impressive Orb collection.

And also, kudos to the Professor for creating the Super Orbs in Ripto’s boss level. 👍

There’s also a tiny ship tease between Spyro and Elora concerning her kissing him in gratitude at the end of the game and Spyro “missing his chance” in the Tunnel of Love scene in the epilogue. Although to be honest, I’m content with them being just friends.

The only part of the game I’m particularly a fan of are the infamous side quests with providing the Alchemist escort around the Earth Shapers so he can deliver a magic potion to free Hunter after the cheetah got his feet trapped in a solid slab of stone during a failed attempt of turning his boots into gold mishap. And Hunter wasn’t even wearing any boots!

Hunter’s side quest with getting rid of the Earth Shapers was more or less frustrating but still a chore where you bad to quickly head bash them after Hunter knocks them down with his arrows. If you aren’t quick enough, the Earth Shaper that had been knocked down will get back up again and call for reinforcements, forcing you to start the side quest all over again. 😮‍💨

At least they’re better than the Agent 9’s side quest and that horrible 2 parter Tank Blast in the Haunted Tombs from Year of the Dragon. Tank Blast 1 and 2 were a nightmare I can tell you. 😒

Whether you like or dislike trolley side quest in the Breeze Harbour level, the following quote “Trouble with trolley, eh?” had always been a very well-known meme throughout the franchise.

Between the weirder creatures ranging between hybrid animals such as elephants with snail shells in the Mystic Marsh, robot farmers tackling a literally huge bug problem (emphasis on giant bugs) in the Robotica Farms and literal space cows and sheep saucers in Metropolis, I’ve seen and experiences weirder things onscreen.

Speaking the Metropolis level, we are introduced to a very special power up that will serve as a foreshadowing for the final phase for Ripto’s boss level; a combination of the Sper Flame and Super Glide, which enables Spyro to fly and fire a Super Flame breath simultaneously.

Since the first game, I really love little sparkling sound effect of the gems you collect and where Sparx the Dragonfly makes more audible buzzing sounds depending on the movements such as when he’s about to eat a butterfly or helping pick up a gem.

I also love how the pause menu is basically the Guidebook Elora gives you at the very start of the game you turn the pages to check up on your progress, a fascinating feature which was sadly not added into the Reignited Trilogy. Oh well.

Out of all the games in the classic trilogy, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage is personally the best game in the franchise and it will always have a special place in my heart. And I do hope many other fellow Spyro fans through the ages share the same sentiment.

Hope you have all enjoyed my review. If you all like to share some opinions and tell what are your most favourite levels, music, special features, power ups and moments in the game, please feel free to comment below but please no foul language since my account is family oriented.

Take care now and May your dreams shine. ✨

[dragonfly0808]

In honor of it being winx 19th birthday, how would you rank the seasons?

oooooooooooohhhhhhh that’s a hard one…. I’ll rank up to 6 cause I stopped watching after that

1st- This was honestly going to be a tie between 2 and 3 but in the end 3 won out. It has a more interesting plot and introduces our lovely Enchantix but it’s also a little too Bloom focused and the ending… I never was the biggest fan of the ending if I’m being 100% honest, like… a 5 minute battle after ALL of that? But it did also have some of the best moments and my fave moments like the Crystal Labyrinth, Flora’s Enchantix, the whole Omega/Tecna plotline and more. Also since the entire Club is established at this point we get to explore their dynamic a bit more. Though Musa and Flora blend a bit into the background at times and we rarely get any Specialist moments. But overall, for me it’s the best to me.

2nd- Season 2. We get Darkar, Aisha’s epic introduction and her arc, little moments for all the girls’ Charmix. HELIA?! HELIA AND FLORA?! AAAAAA!!!! Sorry fangirled there a bit. I feel like we got to see a bit more of the boys this season so I loved that. Darkar is an epic, creepy villain and I feel like the Trix are still good in this season. Also Dark Bloom was lowkey iconic and I loved the pixies this season. For me seasons 2 and 3 are very close in this ranking. The only reason it’s second is because s3 has a bit more memorable moments and of course, Enchantix.

3rd- This might surprise yall but… season 4. I LOVE season 4. I love the Wizards, their dynamic and personalities, Anagan’s little weird flirting with Flora? Gold. It has a lot of unnecessary drama between the Specialists and the Winx but I can let it slide because of the great ideas. We get the Wizards of the Black Circle, the dynamic with Roxy as we get to see another young girl get her world twisted upside down. Then, we free the Earth fairies and… they want fucking revenge. And that’s awesome. The timeline makes absolutely no fucking sense though. I’ll be honest, this one is mostly here due to nostalgia (this season was my fave for a very long time) and ideas not necessarily execution. But this one will always have a special place in my heart.

4th- the one that started it all, season 1! The one where we get introduced to almost all of the girls the only season in which Riven actually gets to keep his development, it’s he best season of the Trix and… this one is probably the most coherent one when it comes to plot since the plot had to be simple since we were just being introduced to the characters and world. I love this season so much. The only reason it isn’t higher is mostly cause the others just have so much more going on that this one can fade a bit into the background but I still absolutely adore it. Also, I have a thing with insects so the Army of Darkness still gives me the creeps to this day just… no- ew

5th- Now on to where I personally feel the decline truly started, season 5. So, they returned the squad to school with no explanation and just… okay? Then all of a sudden Aisha have these cousins that have never been shown before and one of them is evil and has the Trix join him and… okay? And then… it’s just a mess of somewhat good ideas but this is also when they start making the Winx childish like, even more than they were in season 1. And I cannot remember anything about the boys this season, literally just that stupid amnesia plotline like- what?! Can we please just give Bloom and Sky a break? I actually liked the idea of them breaking up to give themselves sometime but no let’s just get fucking- I can’t even. This was just a weird season overall to me. I liked the concept of the oceans and sometimes it was done really well other times not. Also the Trix just… lose their impact

6th- now… wow… I like some of the concepts here, mainly Selina and the Legendarium but they were executed so fucking horribly. I adore the Bloomix designs like, I might even put them above Enchanitx they are so fucking pretty but the way they get it is just… such bullshit? And then the Legendarium could’ve been a chance to make up myths for other planets but no for some reason they are all from Earth? And then Daphne’s random ass plotline and randomly getting married and just what?! The only thing I liked were the designs, Helia and Flora having a conflict even if it was a bit stupid and Musa losing her voice. That’s literally all I can remember cheering for. And now we have a form unironically called Bloomix… remember when I said season 3 focused a bit too much on Bloom? Yeah… also I fucking hate the fairy godmother I’m not even going to look up her name. Selina had potential but then the Trix at this point are just pitiful. So yeah, this is when I oficially gave up on the series, I didn’t even watch the full final few episodes I just skimmed them.

And that’s the ranking! Also, Winx is now my same age, I feel fucking old ajjajajaja.

[atamascolily]

My favorite example of Narrativium in Thunderbolt Fantasy is when Juan Can Yun manages to navigate his way through the Labyrinth of Darkness without the macguffin the party spent several episodes trying to acquire because he marked a path on the way in. Every time I get to that point, I mutter "this is utter bullshit" and every time I'm won over because it just works and lets us move on to the next thing rather than getting bogged down in details. Ditto for the Spirit Veins in the trees, which turn up once and never again--it's so awesome and convenient, it automatically bypasses any objections my brain might raise. (Or as the Madoka Magica meme goes, "It's magic, bitch, I don't have to explain shit".) Truly inspiring.

Like Lian Qi, I think Xie Ying Luo is Doomed by the Narrative, in the sense that there is no way for her to win from the moment of her introduction. She chooses pride over expediency by trying to kill Shang instead of running off with the Index, as Shang himself notes. That's the moment it all goes to hell in a handbasket for her; the rest is one long slide to rock bottom via Ironically Appropriate means. And when she tries to get up again, the narrative crushes her like a bug.

Does that mean she shouldn't have tried, though? I don't know if it's that simple. Xiao Kuang Juan died as he lived--trying to cozen up to someone to get them to do the dirty work for him--and it did not save him in the end. Ditto for Lou Zhen Jie, who ultimately got a happy ending (for him, anyway--Lou Zhen Jie heaven is Zhao Jun Lin hell. It's a very efficient system). Thunderbolt Fantasy is a harsh world for NPCs and villains and side characters alike--I'm still impressed that Wan Jun Po's men managed to survive Season 3 given the mass casualties in Season 2. The determining factor seems to be whether any given character is more valuable to the narrative alive or dead, but that's not necessarily information the characters themselves have access to.

Re: "Xie Ying Luo Lives" AUs, I 100% agree, and the only reason I haven't written something like that myself is because it so wildly diverges from the narrative it stops being a Thunderbolt Fantasy story and starts being something else instead! I did write an AU that played with what her fate might be had she lived in a different way, as well an AU in which she revisits her choices in the afterlife, but I have not yet figured out the right approach for the kind of story you describe, though it haunts me.

This question of fighting fate/the narrative (in a story, is there really any difference?) is a central preoccupation of many of Urobuchi's works, but it meshes especially well with budaixi conventions and genre tropes. Puella Magi Madoka Magica also has its share of theatrical elements and magical girl archetypes, but I agree that the character poems explicitly make this textual in a way that I rarely encounter in other media.

That said, while Urobuchi has a deep love for and knowledge of, budaixi conventions, Thunderbolt Fantasy appears to play with them in interesting ways. This can be seen in the presentation of the character poems, which do not necessarily appear when a character is introduced, but when their true self is revealed. Thus, Juan Can Yun's poem only appears when he chooses pride over expediency and Dan Fei over Shou Yun Xiao; Lin Xue Ya's when his duplicity is exposed; and Shang Bu Huan's at the very end of Season 1. Before that, we can watch them in action, but we don't truly grasp who they are because we are missing important pieces. Traditional conventions are simultaneously maintained, yet fluid.

That said, I agree that Xie Ying Luo and Lang Wu Yao appear to challenge this particular convention by "growing beyond" the worldviews implied in their poems. Xie Ying Luo's is "solved" by erasing her from the narrative (sob!) while Lang Wu Yao's fate is more open.

Based on what Urobuchi has said in interviews, Lang's personality is not "fixed" in the same way that Shang or Lin's is; he has not yet discovered his purpose in life. I think for Lang the ultimate key to maturity is the realization that good and evil are not as different as he originally assumed, and that on some level (either literal or metaphorical) humans and demons are fundamentally the same. This show being what it is, my bet is literal, but that's something S4 will likely address.

We see a similar version of this with Juan Can Yun and Lin Xue Ya in S3, actually:

Of course, Lin's entire character poem is all about how truth and lies are two sides of the same coin, so he would say that, wouldn't he... but Lin is generally right about these kinds of things; as far as I can tell, he always tells the truth, albeit from "a certain point of view". "Things that seem like they're different turn out to be the same" is a running theme of Thunderbolt Fantasy in general, so I feel reasonably confident in predicting it will be true for Lang's situation as well. He will fix the disharmony within himself and gain power and freedom (from his father, if nothing else) as a result; it will re-affirm his character poem instead of changing it because the dichotomy that was causing the discord is resolved. "I accept the good and the bad, the human and demonic, and they are not separate" feels like the only possible answer to the paradox he's confronted with.

I think Lang's arc will end better than Xie Ying Luo's, if only because he is a protagonist, and I don't think his story is ultimately a tragedy, though it has no shortage of tragic elements. Even though Thunderbolt Fantasy is not a romance, Lang Wu Yao strikes me as a romantic hero in a coming-of-age story, even if his love interest has been mostly sidelined thus far. Given that his arc in Bewitching Melody was about seizing control of his own fate, I think he will continue to build upon this framework in the future.

Or to put it a different way, I think Lang will survive by virtue of genre expectations.... the question being "which genre and is it the one we thought we were watching?" Are the characters passive victims of the story/narrative (i.e., fate) or can they create it and/or shift the audience's perceptions of it? Does the tail wag the dog or vice versa? Will our expectations be borne out or will they be subverted in a satisfying manner instead?

We'll find out, but my money's on Shang ultimately being right because he's the hero and all (in keeping with genre expectations, of course). Lin Xue Ya will also be right, because life is tricky like that, and because he and Shang, like light and dark or truth and lies, are two halves of a whole, which is why the story began with them coming together and I think it will end with them departing together on a new adventure. But there is a great opportunity for meta-narrative awesomeness--simultaneously adhering to genre conventions yet challenging them--and I can't wait to see how it all shakes out.

I like that you mention "ethos", because the Crunchyroll translation has Lin Xue Ya use that word when he's discussing the kind of things he likes to steal--to understand who that person is so thoroughly that he can take from them the thing that gives their life intrinsic meaning. Of course, it keeps backfiring on him, either because he doesn't truly understand them in the first place, or because his victims decide to get back at him where it hurts, but so much of Lin's power comes from being genre-savvy; as a storyteller in-universe, he knows narrative cues when he sees them, to the point of being able to tap into them for his own purposes (i.e., the Nendoroid phone). The ending of Bewitching Melody of the West where he breaks the fourth wall with information he should not have access to at that point in time gets me every single time, because it's just so damn meta, and raises some fascinating questions about who and what he really is. Out of everyone in the cast, Lin Xue Ya is the one most aware of the power of narrative, and how it is stronger than any sword, and this is a huge part of what makes him so effective and compelling.

But to build on your last statement, I would say that while audience expectations and authorial skill are indeed more powerful than weapons and warriors, the most powerful force in Thunderbolt Fantasy is ultimately the author's love for their characters, their world, and the story that they're telling, from which everything else arises.

Some Thoughts on Power Levels in Thunderbolt Fantasy

@jafndaegur got me thinking about this, so strap in because this is a long one!

tl;dr: Narrative casuality is linear for characters and the audience, and non-linear for writers and analysts; power levels in Thunderbolt Fantasy are a perfect illustration of this, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Fight scenes are a major component of Thunderbolt Fantasy, but who wins and who loses is determined less by the absolute power levels of the respective parties, but by the needs of the narrative. There's a tendency to think of it as the other way around because that's how it initially appears to us as viewers--we see the outcome and think one caused the other. However, this is an illusion caused by the way we experience media. From a structural and compositional standpoint, the reverse is true--the story dictates the outcome, not the other way around.

For an example, let's look at Lian Qi's ill-fated fight against Sha Wu Sheng in Season 1. On the surface, it looks like Wu Sheng is considerably stronger, since he was able to kill Lian Qi in one blow. However, consider that Lian Qi's death is required for the story to work--if he survived and Wu Sheng didn't, it would be a different story entirely! This isn't what is usually meant by the phrase "doomed by the narrative," but in this case, it's an accurate description of the situation--there is no power level Lian Qi could possibly possess that would save him from Wu Sheng, since Wu Sheng's presence is required for the story as it stands to work.

Lian Qi's narrative role is to serve as a sacrificial lamb for Wu Sheng--that's his one (1) job and he's very good at it. We know that Wu Sheng is powerful, because he was able to effortlessly destroy a man of considerable skill and power whom Lin Xue Ya had just spoken highly of in the preceding scene. Saying that this means that Wu Sheng is thus a stronger fighter may be true, but it's not particularly interesting as an isolated factoid; what matters is what the fight reveals about the characters (that Wu Sheng is ruthless and determined) and how it advances and serves the story (gets him the Soul Echo Flute and a chance to reunite with Lin Xue Ya).

In other words, strength/power is correlated with victory, but correlation is not causation, even though we tend to interpret it as such because we experience narratives linearly, where cause comes before effect.

The other important thing to consider is that characters in Thunderbolt Fantasy are not simply discrete individuals--they also represent specific moral or philosophical positions. When they clash, the "strength" of the character has as much to do with the strength of this position as it does their physical prowess. This is true for most if not all of Gen Urobuchi's works, but it's more explicitly textual in Thunderbolt Fantasy, because in-universe, the character's "sword" is viewed as an extension of the self; it is primarily through conflict that this self becomes fully revealed.

Perhaps the best example of this is Lin Xue Ya's fight with Mie Tian Hai, in which the latter is fighting to preserve his philosophy that strength through the sword can only be attained a certain way. His physical defeat and the shattering of that worldview occur simultaneously; furthermore, his identity is so wrapped up in this particular point that he immediately kills himself in response.

[As an aside: Mie Tian Hai's suicide out of spite is foreshadowed by Can Xiong doing the same thing in the first episode when Shang Bu Huan defeats him. Can Xiong is not merely a loyal subordinate; he is enacting the teachings embodied by his master. Say whatever else you will about Mie Tian Hai, at least he isn't a hypocrite--he practices exactly what he preaches. There's a reason I refer to the Xuan Gui Zong as a "death cult"!!]

Taken together, these two factors--narrative purpose and philosophical position--provide a useful framework to make sense of conflict, and thus power levels, in Thunderbolt Fantasy. Here are a few examples:

-Shang Bu Huan vs. Lang Wu Yao in Bewitching Melody of the West -- Shang is older and more experienced than Lang in many respects, so it makes sense that he would win out here. However, what settles his victory isn't his physical skill, it's his moral clarity and sense of purpose; he knows who he is and that his cause is righteous.

Meanwhile, Lang is powerful, with martial arts from his unique upbringing combined with the magic of his innate heritage, but he is also confused and morally compromised through his allegiance to the corrupt Xi You imperial court, which ultimately gives Shang the upper hand. Note that this fight ends when Shang directly calls out Lang's ideas of good and evil, and Lang loses the will to continue; his doubts and uncertainty make it impossible for him to win. The climax of the movie is Lang coming to an emotional realization and gaining a corresponding power-up/magical boy transformation to go with it. Changing his philosophy increased his strength, not the other way around!

As Season 2 demonstrates, Lang's narrow-minded focus on good and evil have not changed by the end of Bewitching Melody, he's just altered the definitions so that Shang is now one of the good guys, and taken agency over his decisions instead of being a mindless tool for anyone else. This rigidness will continue to hold him back until he adopts a broader and more mature philosophy. This is especially important, because the Huo Shi Ming Huang fight in S3 demonstrates vividly that Lang's powers are fueled by his emotions; when unchanneled, he is capable of incredible destruction. (There's so much about that scene that is wonderful from an analytical standpoint, but my favorite part is Ling Ya muttering, "Oh, buddy, no" [paraphrase] right before all hell breaks loose; Ling Ya, as Lang's self-appointed mouthpiece, knows what's up.)

-Speaking of Huo Shi Ming Huang, the flashback in S3x06 is one of the few times we've ever seen Shang on the back foot. Not coincidentally, this fight is also characterized by Shang's hesitation and doubts as to the best course of action, which create a cascade of consequences leading to a Bad Ending of Mu Tian Ming's blindness and Shang's subsequent departure from Xi You. I've written elsewhere about how this outcome is also narratively determined in advance by the events of Season 1, which were written first even though they occur later in-universe, to the point where there's an entire mini-arc devoted to showing just how necessary this particular loss was; for better or worse, the entire story of Thunderbolt Fantasy rests on it.

-Xie Ying Luo vs. Shang Bu Huan in S2x09, "The Path of the Strong" - Up to this point, Xie Ying Luo's fighting style has been the opposite of the standard wuxia code of honor--she uses illusions and poisons and takes hostages rather than fight one-on-one. As Lin Xue Ya wryly points out in 2x04, this is the best way of dealing with a powerhouse like Shang Bu Huan (he even says it would be how he'd take Shang down!!!) but it's strongly implied that Xie Ying Luo relies on these methods because she doubts her own strength. [How much of this is due to misogyny is unclear, but there's no question it's a factor; Ba Wang Yu's character in S4 suggests she has taken the opposite approach to the same systemic forces with her emphasis on physical strength.] Xie's arc is characterized by her uncertainty and doubts, which send her on an increasing downward spiral (exposure to Di Kong's nihilism does not help!); even wielding Seven Blasphemous Deaths isn't enough to overcome it. However, after freeing herself from the demonic sword's thrall, Xie Ying Luo makes the unexpected decision to fight Shang one on one with her sword, something she has spent the entire show up to this point avoiding.

This makes no goddamn sense from a tactical perspective, but it's not about tactics or even victory. On a practical level, Xie Ying Luo is saving face--she knows she can't win, but if Shang defeats her and takes Seven Blasphemous Deaths, she can at least say that she didn't completely abandon her duties. She may have lost the fight, but she retains her honor, even if it means she can never return to Huo Shi Ming Huang's service.

Shang recognizes this, which is why he is so gracious to her after her defeat--he respects the courage it took to show up in the first place, and encourages her to redefine what it means to be strong in the first place. Again, we return to the idea that true strength isn't physical prowess, but moral clarity and certainty, which Shang possesses in abundance--and is also willing to pass along to others. Season 2 goes to a lot of effort to demonstrate Shang's mercy and compassion are strengths, not weaknesses, and this scene is further evidence of this.

Shang also believes that fate is not fixed and that people are capable of growing and changing if they choose to do so, which again gives him power over those like Sha Wu Sheng and Lou Zhen Jie, who believe themselves to be instruments of inevitability. (This is also what makes Shang Bu Huan endlessly surprising and therefore interesting and entertaining to Lin Xue Ya, but that's a whole 'nother story.) Unfortunately, Xie Ying Luo is tragically murdered by the very weapon she gave up (and by a man she trusted!!) and never gets to fully realize this, but she tries, damn it, even if it wasn't enough to save her in the end. This is one reason why Lang Wu Yao buries her even though they were enemies, because on some level he recognizes and honors that attempt, despite the fact he wasn't there to witness exactly what transpired.

I should also point out that while moral strength is a source of power, it's not the be-all, end-all--one reason why Lou Zhen Jie is so terrifying is because he no longer doubts. His logic and reasoning might be unsound, but he is so single-mindedly focused on his goal that he can plow through any obstacle single-handedly (pun intended). This is also what makes him such a great foil to Shang Bu Huan on multiple levels; Lou Zhen Jie is what would happen if Shang were evil/misguided/less ethical than he actually was. This is why Shang fighting alone can match Lou Zhen Jie but cannot win without something else to tip the scales.

Here's a fight that's interesting precisely because it didn't happen: Lin Xue Ya vs. Sha Wu Sheng. One reason why Lin Xue Ya refuses to fight Sha Wu Sheng at any point in Season 1 is that it would require Lin to reveal himself openly and intimately in a way he has no desire to do. Furthermore, it would also clash with the needs of the story, i.e., the big reveal of Lin's abilities in the final episode. Lin is so confident in his own abilities that he has no need to "prove" himself by fighting; just as his narrative foil Shang has no need to "prove" his own strength by picking stupid fights and does everything he can to avoid them. The primary difference between the two is that Lin spares his enemies so he can savor their suffering, while Shang spares his enemies so they can do better in the future.

This is why Shang repeatedly and emphatically insists that he and Lin have nothing in common--he sees the commonalities but the differences repel him even more because of it. Note that Shang indirectly critiques Lin's approach when he tells Xie Ying Luo that a truly strong person can spare someone's life and not have them come after him in revenge.... in essence, arguing that Lin's whole approach is fundamentally misguided. (This is also the second time he's done this in conversation with Xie Ying Luo; the first time was in 2x01 when he unfavorably compared her technique to Lin's. For someone who claims to want nothing to do with this guy, he sure thinks about him a lot!) Shang also has no intention of killing Lou Zhen Jie in the climax of S2; all he wants is to take Seven Blasphemous Deaths away from him.

[This leads to fascinating questions like "How will Shang deal with Huo Shi Ming Huang?" and "Can the guy who believes in the supremacy of fate and seeks to become Fate itself ever break free of it?" which I think we'll see in the final movie, so TBD.]

I'll also note that there is a tendency in modern storytelling to have power as the limiting factor for characters, whereas myths and epics give their characters free reign to do whatever they want, and as a story about archetypal characters with superhuman abilities, I think Thunderbolt Fantasy leans more towards the latter in many respects. Characters have exactly enough power to do what narratively needs to get done, no more and no less, so in that sense, it's a very efficient system.

I'll stop here because this is very long and rambling and I think I've demonstrated my point: for something so seemingly obvious and matter of fact, "strength" and "power" in Thunderbolt Fantasy, let alone comparing that of one character to another, is far more challenging than it appears on the surface, and contingent upon both the character's moral stance and the larger narrative of which they are a part. It's both deeper and far more interesting than "Character X is stronger than Character Y" (even if character X is stronger than character Y!).

[thisisjaybaker]

great novels i read in 2021

i feel like i didn't read all that much this year (blame it on 1. my bachelor's exams that took up about four months of my life, 2. fanfiction because who needs books when you can read 100 zukka fics, right?), but I read a very good selection of novels, so here we go with my favs from this year (in no particular order)! :)

Outlawed by Anna North

summary: It's a post-apocalyptic (pandemic, anyone?) 1894 in what we today know as the Wild West. After the enormous loss of population it's every woman's godly duty to bear children to repopulate the Earth. When Ada, an apprentice midwife, is expelled from her community as a barren woman she joins up with a gang of female and non-binary outlaws, whose leader wants to build a safe haven for people like them.

rating: 11/10 i grew up on Western movies but the older i got the more unwatchable most of those movies became for me, because they are filled with racist stereotypes, mysoginistic 'heroes' and brutality for brutality's sake. imagine how happy i was when i stumbled upon this book that is a queer-feminist western. i read this book in a 3-day-haze of not-wanting-to-do-uni-stuff and can warmly recommend it!

favorite scene/quote: the scene where Ada arrives at the gang's bonfire and tries to assess the situation like: 'okay, there are two people kissing, so a man and a woman, there's another woman, then there's this....person, no idea what's up with them and now we have another person that i have no idea how to categorize and then...', it's funny and it introduces us to the ease that the gang has around being gnc, non-binary, etc. also, the book doesn't use any labels for how exactly the characters identify but it's clearly described as queer identities/relationships

content warnings: period typical sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia and according hatespeech & discriminatory actions, violence, blood and death, descriptions of medical procedures incl. births, descriptions of sexual acts and (mutilated) genitalia, depictions of undiagnosed mental health issues incl. post-partum depression, mentions of suicidal ideation and past suicide attempts, mentions of abuse, abortion and substance abuse, religious fanatism, trials for witchcraft, death penalty

LORE by Alexandra Bracken

summary: Centuries ago Zeus punished nine of the Olympian Gods for trying to overthrow him by making them mortal for seven days every seven years and giving the descendants of the greatest Greek heroes the chance to kill them and take their place in the Agon. In current-day New York, Lore Perseous, who had turned her back on the Agon after her whole family was brutally murdered, is pulled back into its deathly workings by an old friend and an older Goddess. Will they be able to stop the new Ares from turning the world to war and maybe even end the Agon once and for all?

rating: 9/10 it's Hunger Games meets Greek mythology in the most awesome way possible. anyone who knows Greek mythology will not be surprised by the brutality, still it's sometimes a lot to stomach. still, we get characters that are easy to connect with, some nice representation (considering it's ya fantasy, a very white genre) and a lot of mythology-nerddom. as someone who connects a lot to athena i loved how she was depicted here. -1 for certain ambiguities and featuring a main hetero couple (which is not a problem per se but the story didn't need a romantic subplot imho)

favorite scene/quote: there's a conversation between Lore and Athena, in which Lore questions why Athena never mentored women and calls bullshit on Athena's handling of Medusa. The whole scene is awesome, because it shows the ambiguity of Athena as feminist(?)/strong woman icon and questions the depiction of Medusa as a villain, because it stems from a male perspective. I especially love, though what Athena says about why she gave Medusa a head full of snakes: "I gave her fury power." it's an interesting reading and I'd love to write about that someday.

content warnings: graphic depictions of violence, blood and gore, depictions of death, assisted suicide, terminal illness, bullying, violence against children, mentions of self-harm, description of past sexual assault

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

summary: Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this sci-fi world that depicts a human population endangered by the life-force sucking aliens called the Hunduns. Their only guardians are the Mechas that are piloted by a male/female pair in a brutal systems that leaves a disproportionate amount of young women dead. When Wu Zetian's sister is killed by the pilot she worked with, Zetian swears revenge - and gets it. She is therafter known as an Iron Widow and forced to co-pilot with Li Shimin, a death-row inmate who murdered his brothers and father but is the most powerful pilot of their day. Will they be able to get along and save themselves from being sacrificed in the war effort? And will they maybe even get a chance to end this brutal system of femicide?

rating: 15/10 this book is so good! i've been following the author on YouTube for a while and was really looking forward to the book. It's an intriguing world they built inspired by Chinese Mythology and figures of Chinese History (watch their videos about Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of China). while it sometimes seems a bit on-the-nose when explaining mythological and societal concepts in the exposition that's only natural as Chinese Mythology is not well-known in non-Asian/non-Chinese communities. i read this in two days and it was very intense and very capturing. also the first book i read that gave me polyam representation (yes!).

favorite scene/quote: (slight spoiler warning i guess) when Sima Yi warns Zetian about getting caught in a love triangle she answers "don't you know basic geometry? a triangle is the strongest shape." also two things Yizhi says: "You can't shoot me, I'm rich." and (more somber this time:) "love can be infinite, as much as your heart can open." i would die for this man.

content warnings: depictions of violence and abuse, suicidal ideation, discussion and references to sexual assault, alcohol addiction, torture, depictions of racism/xenophobia and chronic pain also: kudos to the author for giving warnings in the beginning of the book, it's the first book I have had this in

Loveless by Alice Oseman

summary: When Georgia starts University she sets out to find a first love for herself since she has never been in love before and feels like she's missing out. By getting involved with the LGBTQ+ community on campus and getting entangled in a Shakespeare production and a dating scheme that shake up her group of old and new friends, she is confronted with the question if romantic love might not be a thing for her at all and what the hell that even means.

rating: 10/10 this book hit so close to home. i could identify with a lot of the things that happened in this book, as i myself identify as part of the aro & ace community and only learnt this about myself after starting uni. i have seldomly felt so seen by a book. (sidenote: also, compared to the other books on this list this was basically fluff which was exceptionally nice)

favorite scene/quote: not a scene or a quote but i love Sunil! Sunil is Georgia's college parent (a new concept for me). they get Georgia into the LGBTQ+ Society on campus and help her figure out stuff and are just very supportive but not in a passive savior-way but as an awesome friend.

content warnings: ace-phobia & aro-phobia

Honorable mentions: also in no particular order

Darius the Great is Not Okay & Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend & Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

[itsclydebitches]

The thing that feels disingenuous about Miles answer about Ironwood is that he was part of the writing staff that framed the general as a cool character to start with. I do think that the signs about Ironwood's evil were clear since V2 and in V7 he was an outright dictator from episode 1. Nonetheless, he was still consistently framed as a cool character, someone you can trust and rely. You don't get to blame the fans for liking a genocide if you was the one framed him as cool in the first place.

I actually don’t think being cool is the problem. If we’re satirizing and/or making a  statement about the toxic masculinity that leads to something like a dictatorship, then being “cool” is a crucial part of that. People don’t leverage the power they have by looking lame, they do so by appearing desirable, enviable, awesome. Being in the military is supposedly “cool.” Being a white guy with a giant gun is supposedly “cool.” Having power over an entire nation is supposedly “cool,” etc. If you only make such characters look revolting  — even when they are  — then you miss one of the main recruitment tools for this kind of rhetoric. Any version of Ironwood that’s meant to make a point about the dangers of following someone like him needs to make him look “cool” and then deconstruct that, pointing out the ways in which this cool veneer is a lie meant to pull you in. To do otherwise is to claim that evil people are always easy to spot. Making your villains “uncool” implies that the people who do appear cool in real life must be fine then. That good looking, charismatic leader is great. Why would I look critically at his actions? He’s too cool to be evil. 

My personal problem is not that “They made the dictator look cool and we can’t possibly expect the audience to tell the difference between someone who is truly good and someone who is just using various Cool Points to skate by” because that would be the point of such a character  — the work the show needs to do. My problem is that RWBY didn’t do that work. At least, not to the extent they needed to. Rather than making Ironwood a truly heinous character (prior to Volume 7 ‘s shooting, I mean) and allowing the audience to learn how appearing cool can’t hide that, they just made him good person. Straight up. Flawed, absolutely, but no worse than any of the other character on screen, particularly post Volume 6 when our heroes are frequently putting people in danger, seizing power, telling lies, keeping secrets, and generally acting in the ways we’re supposedly meant to condemn Ironwood for. Since talk of Miles’ vid last night I’ve seen three separate “Ironwood was always bad, idk how people can miss the signs” posts and those people are half right. There 100% were signs we were meant to pick up on. The problem is RWBY then went and deconstructed those signs. Ironwood didn’t just bring an army to a peace festival, he brought an army to an event he had good reason to believe wasn’t peaceful  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t wrest control from Ozpin (using a series of checks and balances that exist for this very purpose...) because he has an obsession with being in control, he did so because he honestly believed Ozpin was putting people in danger  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t step up post-Fall because he arrogantly believes he’s the only one capable of saving Remnant, he did so because he’s actually the most qualified: a fully trained huntsmen leading an Academy (like Ozpin) with an army and knowledge of this secret war. What, was Ironwood supposed to read the script and wait for the group of dropout teenagers to arrive and save the world instead? To say nothing of how his power and responsibility are framed as sacrifices, not something he sought out. Ironwood doesn’t want to be the sole ruler here. His desperate relief at having allies again proves it. Good setup for the rise of a dictator would have been Ironwood being cagey with his information and exerting control over the group... not telling them everything, not giving them more power, not letting them keep the Lamp, not taking arrest off the table so as to keep them in line, and generally doing the opposite of everything he did do to share that responsibility and power. RWBY got very good at giving us the first half of these red flags  — he has an army, he’s stubborn, he’s hurting Mantle, etc.  — but then time and time again introduced a context that changed that flag dramatically: they are fighting literal monsters, he’s no more stubborn than our title character, hurting Mantle is a consequence of a plan he thinks will help the whole world and our heroes back this. Those who insist that Ironwood was 100% a villain in the making (or a villain already) prior to shooting Oscar are working from their assumption of what his archetype represents, not what RT actually put on screen. Because RT is just really bad at writing a dictator character. They didn’t have the skill to manage someone who only appeared good on the surface, let alone a character with the complex nuance of wielding “coolness” to their advantage, which is why in Volume 8 they had to resort to cartoon villainy with literal, evil spotlights. It’s not that the audience is too dumb to pick up on those red flags, it’s that RT couldn’t manage to plant them without continually introducing valid justifications. You can’t say, “Bringing an army is a bad thing. Look at this dictator coding!” without me going, “Yeah, except in the fictional world you created an army does not represent the problems it does in our real life societies. This isn’t a guy amassing soldiers to go after oil, he’s trying to protect people from monsters. Not even metaphoric monsters acting as stand-ins for a minority group. Literal, evil monsters!” RWBY ignores its own context and a good chunk of the fandom ignored it too. 

The problem with that (besides the general frustration of someone ignoring parts of canon to forward a particular reading) is that the fandom’s go-to claim is that everything is meaningful  — and it’s a reading the writers very much support. Fans do not, as the above attests, push for a simple reading of, “Don’t think too hard about it. Just take the surface reading and run with it” which, while still frustrating, would have at least been a valid stance. Rather, they insist very strongly that nuance and depth are what drive the show. From the song lyrics to a tiny detail in the opening, everything is important and if you don’t accept that then you can’t appreciate RWBY’s complexity. 

“Okay,” I said. “Then in that case Ironwood coming around to Ozpin’s position is meaningful too? Glynda  — one of our best and most faultless characters  — supporting him is meaningful? Flipping his gun, defending Weiss, Qrow writing to him, the group working with him for months on end... all of it is meaningful to his characterization? You said so yourself.” 

“No, no, no,” comes the reply. “He’s just bad. But he’s also nuanced. He’s tricked you into thinking he’s a good person by acting kind sometimes, by getting support sometimes, but none of that is true. His actions are what matter and his actions are simplistically bad.” 

“Ohhhh. So then does that mean this story is really about the creation of a villain?” 

“Huh?” 

“Well, Ruby. She’s ‘nuanced’ in the same way. She acts kind sometimes and gets support, but her actions are terrible. She endangered an entire city because she couldn’t wait to see if Ironwood got his letter. She condemned Ozpin for keeping secrets about Salem and then kept those same secrets just two days later. When the kingdom was under attack she sat around drinking tea, crying on a staircase, just hoping someone would come fix things for her  — all while actively sabotaging the one person who was trying to save people, even if that action seems silly to us (let’s fly really high). So if we’re looking at the impact of someone’s actions outside of their intent, as we just did with Ironwood, then she’s a bad guy too, yeah?” 

“No! She’s the hero!” 

“... these characters don’t know she’s the hero from a meta perspective. If we’re supposed to judge the meaning of RWBY based on these details — ” 

“But it’s not just the details. It’s also the allusions. Everyone in RWBY is based on another person or character. It’s very complex and that inspiration drives their story, so if you don’t have that information it’s no surprise you’re confused. For example, this is why Penny had to get a human body. That’s what happened to Pinocchio!” 

“Oh! So then Ironwood is destined to be a good guy!” 

“What?” 

“Well, you just said the allusions drive their stories, right? The whole point of the Tin Man is that he always had a heart and just needed to realize that. So clearly — “ 

“No! He’s supposed to be a classic dictator, he’s only bad!” 

And ‘round and ‘round we go. RWBY’s writing is atrocious yet the fandom pushes this narrative that it’s all a complex, multi-layered story that requires taking every part into account to understand the “real” message... but when you try to do that with certain characters like Ozpin and Ironwood it’s, “No, actually, they’re just simple archetypes of Bad Men.” Nuance exists for the bees, but not other ships. It exists for the characters fans like, but not the ones they don’t. And RWBY’s inspirations have to predict the ending for this character... but not that other character. It’s a nonsense grab bag! 

Fans are right that Ironwood had a lot of red flags to set up this downfall. Fans are also right that those red flags were severely undercut, thus reversing their impact. Fans are right that Ironwood becomes a 100% bad guy who kills because he can and threatens to bomb a city. Fans are also right that this characterization feels absurd for Ironwood, both in terms of his morality and his intelligence (how does bombing Mantle help you now??) Ironwood is badly written. He was badly written in 7 and 8, if he was always meant to be a dictator in the making then he was badly written in 2-6, and he’s conclusively badly written when it comes to lacking a backstory and a canonical semblance  — two things are are supposedly driving all of this characterization. That’s the answer: not that he’s good, or bad, but that RWBY can’t write a consistent character, let alone a nuanced one, so it’s no surprise the fandom can’t decide on anything. What’s there to decide on? It’s that nonsense grab bag. In a different show I think making the dictator appear cool would be a crucial bit of commentary, but RWBY doesn’t have the skill to pull that off. 

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

Well, I think it’s time to create my own list of thoughts and wishes for season 3 of Titans

(I am well aware that some of these points are merely a wishful thinking but a girl can dream, right?)

First of all, the official stuff we found out so far:

- Redhood - I know Jason was treated poorly (to say the least) in s2 and that is a legit reason to be angry at the team but please let this transition make sense. Curran is putting a lot of work into it and I am sure his performance will be amazing, but storywise I really hope it’s not gonna end up being done in a “bratty kid throwing a tantrum” kind of way.

- Barbara Gordon - I don’t want to hear anything about a love triangle, got it? She’s being introduced as Dick’s ex for a reason. There might be some little things thrown in here and there like we had with Dawn in s1 but a full blown drama? We don’t need that shit! And besides, it’s been said she won’t be very happy to see Dick, neither she’ll be thrilled about Nightwing and Company running around her city.

Unless they turn it all into a comedy where instead of Kory being jealous - it’s the kids! Gar and Rachel going completely feral whenever Barbara gets close to Dick, giving off you’re not our mom so get out vibe and Kory lets them because she finds it hilarious (this season is supposed be *lighter* and *more fun* as I’ve heard, right?)

- Scarecrow - I am VERY intrigued to see that character. He’s supposed be locked up and working with GCPD but I do hope we’ll get to see him in action. I’m not really into comics world, I had to do my research on him, but from what I’ve found… Damn, fear toxin torture that show their biggest fears and nightmares would be awesome for my angst crave

- Blackfire - personally I don’t find a reason to panic. I know that the treatment of both Anna and her character, especially in s2 was unacceptable, I 100% agree with that. And it does give a reason to worry for s3. BUT why am I not worried?

1. Damaris Lewis has been promoted to a series regular a long time ago

2. Even with all the stuff happening in Gotham, Blackfire is still set to be the main villain - we had the same situation in s2. Cadmus was brought up to introduce Conner, even though Deathstroke was the main villian. So whatever is happening in Gotham, it’s for the introduction of Red Hood while Blackfire remains main villain.

3. Look at what Anna has been saying and the vibe she’s giving off! Would she be this happy if Kory wasn’t getting more screentime? Would she be getting calls from the showrunner about creating Kory’s background and having a chance to pitch him ideas like incorporating her native culture in building the world of Tamaran? WOULD SHE SAY WITH A HUGE SMILE ON HER FACE THAT THIS IS THEIR BEST SEASON YET?

So don’t worry too much about our girl. I’m sure she’s getting her time to shine. Even if it ends up being not as much as we would want, it’s still progress from last season.

And if the writers follow a similar schematic as for previous seasons, I see it going like this:

Blackfire = Deathstroke = Trigon (Main Villian)

Gotham stuff/Redhood = CADMUS/Conner = The Organization/Nuclear Family/Angela (side villian/introduction)

Scarecrow and Barbara = Doctor Light = Amy Rohrbach and Nic Zucco (plot device, appearance in 1-3 eps at most)

I might be wrong though, so don’t hold me on that. Because there’s also another storyline that needs to fit in between all of this

- Rachel on Themyscira - I am sure they won’t show as much of the island as they were originally planning for the same reason they moved the team from San Francisco to Gotham - weather conditions in this time of year resulting in lower temperatures, shorter and less sunny days. All of that wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for filming being pushed back due to Covid. I also had a feeling from the beginning that Rachel won’t come back victorious, or at least she will come back alone, with Donna showing up on her own later or at the end of the season. Now, with an information of the possible use of Lazarus Pit, it all makes even more sense. All my knowledge about those pits comes from Arrowverse so correct me if I’m wrong, but is Donna going to struggle with Blood Lust because of that? It is possible imo.

- Roy Harper and Tim Drake - I don’t have much to say about them, really. I’m excited to see Roy but the only valid reason for him to show up is to grieve Donna and maybe share his condolences to Dick or something like that. We don’t need more OG Titans drama. And Tim… well, new Robin in town will catch Jason’s attention and definitely spark some jealousy, evolving into a feeling of being ditched and abandoned, further confirming his belief of being a “reject”. All of this will only push him further to Red Hood.

Now, for the things I personally want to happen…

- Dickkory getting together - even if it happens in the finale, we need to see the progress! I don’t want this to happen off screen during the possible time jump. I want to see them supporting each other and being there for each other. I want to see Kory being his right-hand (wo)man and them leading the team together. And most importantly for me - the one thing that really brought them together in s1 - a continuation of their co-parenting of the younger Titans.

- Gar’s trauma being adressed - and I’m talking BOTH SEASONS. He really struggled with killing that guy in s1 and what CADMUS did to him made it all worse. He needs to talk about this with someone (and I hope that someone is Dick). And I really want to know if what happened to him is gonna have any lasting consequences.

- Donna and Dick need to talk things out - the worst thing about her death for me is the fact that these two didn’t get the chance to talk about what happened. Donna wasn’t a saint either and I find her behavior in the second half of s2 very hypocritical. It almost felt like this Donna and s1 Donna are two different people! She and Dick have a very strong bond and a lot of history. I’m sure they’ve had their fair share of fights in the past. I really hope they will sort this thing out and get back to being this amazing duo I fell in love with in s1.

- Rose and Jericho - I really want to see how this relationship will work and progress with them not really knowing each other but sharing one body.

- Growth and progress in Kory, Rachel and Gar’s powers - I think I don’t need to elaborate on that. I want to see Kory and Rachel fly, Rachel using more of her powers and discovering stuff like teleportation and telekinesis, Gar turning into other animals (lets pray HBO MAX will provide a decent budget for all of that). And obviously, following that…

- Supersuits for those three! - do I need to add more? I don’t think so.

- And can we get rid of Hank and Dawn? - I liked them in s1, tolerated them at the beginning of s2 and by the end I just wanted them gone. They are completely useless. Honestly? If I were to pick one… Hank can stay, we can still do something with him. But Dawn can go and don’t come back for all I care. I only need her for one more thing I’d like to see but more about that later.

And now the two most important things for me…

- MORE CORE FOUR FAMILY MOMENTS - this was the magic of season 1 that we only got some crumbs of in 2x01 and then it disappeared completely. I am in desperate need of Dick and Kory co-parenting their two superpowered teenage kids. And can someone FINALLY call Dick a DAD?! I would pay fortune to see that happen.

- Relationship progress between the Core Four - all the possible variants, but especially with the kids. It’s already been pretty much established that Rachel is Daddy’s Girl while Gar is Mama’s Boy. And it was nice to see Dick and Gar growing closer during season 2 while Rachel poured her heart out to Kory. But I was VERY MUCH with Gar and Kory when they both asked Rachel “Have you talked to Dick?” because girl YOU AND YOUR FATHER NEED TO TALK! A lot has happened, okay? (Not just because I am an absolute sucker for this dynamic and they are my favorites, but… get ready for a rant) I really want to go back to the way things were in s1 where they had at least one scene together every episode, where they talked and bonded a lot, where we actually could see the progress of this relationship. We’ve been stripped of that in s2. A little bit at the beginning, something at the end (I’m still mad Rachel didn’t get any closure for that nightmare that scared the hell out of her and yet had no influence on further events). I want to see Dick really embracing that role of a father, stepping up to responsibilities he kinda forgot about in s2. It would be nice to see a callback to his conversation with Dawn in 1x02 about how he’s “not taking her in” because “he can’t do family”. I’d love for Dawn to throw one big “I told you so!” in his face (and Dick agreeing she was right all along). I want to see Rachel leaning on him for support and encouragement while also growing independent in her own way. I also need to see more physical affection. Hugs are great and we always want more of them, but a touch of hand on the arm or cheek, or a forehead kiss would kill me. And I dream about a verbal “I love you” everyday…

Well, I think it’s all for now. Nothing else comes to mind atm. I might update this list as time goes on and we get more details…

[evangeline-of-montfort]

DIVERSITY IN RED QUEEN

everyone I just need a moment to like. sit down and appreciate the world we got with Red Queen because it’s pretty fucking amazing.

BLACK CHARACTERS

- cameron cole, fifteen years old and terrified, but stands up for her own beliefs and doesn’t shut up no matter who tells her to. liberates her people! has a great relationship with her brother! has a happy ending and a complete character arc!

- prince bracken, silver king, secondary villain, but NUANCED, cares about his children like a good father should

- carmadon. fucking gay. sense of humor is amazing. sense of style is amazing. excellent gardener and chef and does not hesitate to call evangeline on her bullshit. 

- wren skonos. can literally regrow hands. probably has saved everyone’s ass at one point or another. joined the montfort medics and is the breadwinner for her family (ptolemus, you lazy bum). awesome, i love her. 

LATINX CHARACTERS

- mare. fucking. barrow. is CANONICALLY latina or brown. ladies and gentlethem we have FINALLY gotten a popular book series about overthrowing oppressive systems and the main character isn’t white i adore this. 

- rafe!! electricon badass that sticks by his friends and is a really good fighter! god i adore him

- ada wallace has golden skin in canon so i think she’s latina, personally. (evidence: gisa barrow is also described as having golden skin and she’s latina.) and ada is also canonically one of THE kindest characters, and in glass sword she was integral to mare’s cause. incredibly intelligent and later goes on to represent the ENTIRE nortan states in government and at international coalition meetings. go her. 

- actually i’ve blanked please reblog with more i’m sure there were more

ASIAN CHARACTERS

- evangeline samos what a fucking queen. i can’t believe we got an asian character who wasn’t defined by introversion and math skills in ya lit. can’t BELIEVE it. the strict parents are still there, but that’s a universal experience if i’m completely honest. but evangeline gets a happy ending with a loving support group! cut off all the toxicity from her life we stan one (1) queen.

- ptolemus!! i actually love that he and evangeline are characterized as warriors. honestly ptolemus might even classify as a Brute (temper control 0, able-to-kill-you 100, shoulder width 500, has a soft spot). i never NEVER see this for east asian male characters, so this is incredibly important. 

on top of that, tolly is also a stay at home husband, which is something you hardly ever see either. especially with a character that’s been introduced as a warrior-type and was literally the king of an entire nation. 

- all of house viper, by extension. an entire noble house of east asian descent!! i adore it. 

- DANE FUCKING DAVIDSON IS CANONICALLY EAST ASIAN. VAVEYARD CONFIRMED IT. the LEADER of an ENTIRE COUNTRY who is INCREDIBLE and basically spearheaded a movement for red equality across the ENTIRE CONTINENT and is in a loving relationship with his unproblematic husband. 

BROWN/FIRST NATION CHARACTERS

- iris cygnet. orrec cygnet. cenra and tiora. we have canadian FIRST NATION PEOPLE as rulers of an INCREDIBLY powerful country. iris can hold her own against maven. she and her mother basically reversed the flow of the entire archeon river. she practically flooded an entire city until it was nothing but rubble. 

and even though they’re villains, they’re shown to care for one another deeply. again, more nuance in poc characters. fuck yeah. 

- house iral. another royal house of poc! and they’re a POWERFUL house, too. the best spies in all of norta are iral. tiberias v’s prince consort was an iral. the head of their house was literally nicknamed the fucking PANTHER that’s how good they were.

- lyrisa from broken throne (skin like cold copper). badass strongarm piedmont princess. unapologetic about her past, willing to do what it takes to save herself, but she still cares for other people. again, i LOVE that we have poc characters in positions of power. also, lyri is a great example of what to do with a stalker ex: physically rip his head off his shoulders. 

LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS

- gisa barrow. her relationship with a montfort shopgirl is brought up totally casually, with complete acceptance. that is SO important to me, that in red queen some of our gay characters can just... exist. gisa doesn’t have to fight for acceptance or love, and that’s such an important example of how the lgbt community should be treated in real life.

- davidson and carmadon. fuck. tell me they literally aren’t parent gays to evangeline and elane. that scene where davidson introduces them all to his husband, and evangeline practically cries because she realizes she can love openly?? i can’t even articulate how important that is to me.  

- evangeline and elane. let’s get one thing straight right here. if evangeline wasn’t willing to go to such huge lengths for her girlfriend, i don’t know what state norta would be in. eve shoved marecal back together to be with elane, and we owe her big for that one. also, if she’d married cal, a union of norta and the rift might’ve been too big for red revolution to take hold in. thank god, evangeline. 

(however it would have been nice if elane had more of a personality in war storm. that was a flaw that struck me.)

- how could I forget about maven calore? this one is a little more in the gray zone. first, i do appreciate that maven is bi/pan. second, while it would be problematic if maven were the ONLY gay character and his relationship with thomas was the Tragic Backstory, that is not the case. we have an entire cast of lgbt protagonists in healthy relationships. I personally think that maven shows that lgbtq representation can have nuance and villains and still be done well. 

- gay royalty: tiberias v took a prince consort. leonora calore took a queen consort, mariane nolle (broken throne). thank you victoria for giving us a HISTORY of lgbt figures in this universe.

long post, but how else could I properly appreciate well-written diversity in YA lit?? god bless victoria aveyard for existing. i would die for her, no cap. reblog with more if you can think of them! 

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

JULY PICKS!

You heard me correctly, I said JULY! Whoosh, this year is going by fast-but not in a good way if you know what I mean. This will be my last monthly wrap up where I am strictly staying home in quarantine as this upcoming week I’m heading back to work in person. Wish me luck!

We had quite the range this month from newly released, reality, musical and then some favorites from last month that I’ve continued watching. Without further ado here we go....

There’s going to be PLENTY of SPOILERS this go round. ESPECIALLY with my first pick of Stargirl. You’ve been warned!!!

DC’S STARGIRL

I need to talk about 1x10 or I’m going to burst!!! As stated above there will be A LOT of SPOILERS IN THIS POST!! So scroll down to the next picture if you don’t want it to be spoiled. 

You’ve been warned...again.

IT CANNOT END LIKE THAT!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Henry! Wow! 1) Epic fighting 2) The backstory and how he wasn’t going to give up on his dad AND THEN how he wouldn’t give into his dad. 3) HE DIED RATHER THAN JOIN HIS SIDE OR PRETEND (which I honestly felt was going to happen). His character arc and I can’t believe it’s over!!! 4) His speech at the end: *weeping.* I knew Brainwave was going to say he killed his mother. It just felt like the build up. Brainwave Jr. would have been a GREAT ADDITION TO THE JSA! AND OMG THE WAY THE REST OF THEM FOUGHT FOR HIM! I loved how they framed it so you could still see them in the back when Henry spoke to his father. Super heartbreaking. Man, it feels like a lot of people have been killed off this first season (or am I just still thinking about Joey?) 

Side note: Check out the Instagram Live between father and son Brainwave on Stargirl’s CW page. Jake Austin Walker did an AWESOME interview in his take over.

This was one of the strongest episodes overall and definitely one of my favorites so far. I agree with many others that while it is SOO GOOD and I want to rewatch it again, I don’t know if I can emotionally yet. I can’t remember the last time I felt that way about a show. 

Some other thoughts this episode: WAY TO GO BARBARA! Way to record them to translate later (such an awesome app btw, how do I get it?). I’m glad her and Pat came more to an understanding because I love them especially with that glimpse into how they met. Jordan’s parents give me the creeps, like the couple from The Visit vibes. I feel like Mike’s got to find out ASAP, especially because he’s spent time in the garage. Something’s got to show him the truth; because I’m really feeling he figures it out rather than being told. Very curious to see what his reaction will be. SOLOMON GRUNDY. Thank God Beth talked Rick down. She really is like Chuck in being the voice of reason. She did really well in the cafeteria too. While I still don’t believe Starman is Courtney’s dad, how cute was it when she put together her and Henry were cousins? Speaking of Court’s dad, who else didn’t feel like Starman was her dad until they saw that upcoming promo? I don’t know who that impostor is but he is not her dad. Something’s fishy.

Loving this show. So happy it’s renewed for a second season!! 

THE 100

From a show I can’t get enough of to one whose final season is a disappointment. I’m not going to spend too much time talking about The 100 because I feel I’ll just be repeating myself from previous posts. However, I did want to include it because I haven’t spoken much about the previous 2 episodes that I wound up watching back to back and I didn’t overly dislike them. 

As many have complained, when you have a final season you shouldn’t introduce SO MANY new characters and just push aside your originals (or the ones who are left). You also shouldn’t include so many confusing plots that are making it look like were the main points overall (like this many world concept was around since the first grounders) and playing with time in so many episodes is hard to keep up with too. Having so many people separated makes it difficult to remember what just happened to this specific group because I haven’t seen them in forever. ANYWAY, I did promise some positives. I didn’t except to like 7x08 because of it being a flashback episode with brand new people that was just going to feel like a potential spin-off pilot. Well...I actually really enjoyed it and the concept that the bunker was used before One Crew. The characters were easy to like and it was cool seeing Allie again (and this time not as the villain). While it felt forced including the orb (is that what it’s called? If not that’s what I’m calling it), but I liked how all the other pieces fit together (ex: the flame, the grounders’ language). Honestly, I surprise myself to say this, but I’d watch another episode. For 7x09, I liked being on Bardo and watching Octavia, Echo, Diyoza and Hope slowly get “brainwashed” I mean trained. We all knew it wouldn’t work for Hope and if I was them I would rather be on Sky Ring than Bardo (but then I guess I’d go crazy, so...) I enjoy the Octavia and Levitt relationship and would love them to work out, but if this show taught you anything it’s to be skeptical. I also want to shift to the Primes plot, just to showcase John Murphy for a second. THAT MAN! What a character development he’s had on this show. From the first season where I was like come on Murphy to now me awaiting his scenes. From cockroach to someone who won’t view himself as a hero. So good and something that is fantastic about this final season. They might have forgotten about other characters, but they’re doing it right by Murphy. 

Well, that was more than I was expecting. ;)   

THE CIRCLE

It feels like I haven’t watched a lot of reality TV this year, which makes sense because of our quarantine situation (but then again I’m watching World of Dance, but that’s a different because it’s more of a competition/dance show. I’ll stop rambling). The Circle is a reality ‘game’ show that could be easily completed during quarantine and social distancing because the contestants do not see each other in person. They each have an apartment in this complex and only communicate with each other on a social media platform called the Circle. The objective is to become the most popular and an influencer who gets power over who stays and who goes in the competition. There’s some side contests throughout, but most of the show is just people chatting through an insta messenger and trying to learn as much as they can. Alliances are formed and cat fishes try to thrive all for the grand prize of $100,000. (Wow, that’s a lot!) It is SUPER addicting and very funny. Having a voice-over narrator really makes it even funnier because she says what we’re all thinking. Just about every episode a contestant leaves and then is able to meet one other person in their apartment. It’s been cool seeing their reactions as oftentimes it’s someone they did not expect AT ALL. I can’t wait to finish it. If you’re a fan of Big Brother than this is definitely for you. Looks like there will be a second season, which I am excited about.  

THE BABYSITTERS CLUB

Jumping from one Netflix show to another. Released on Netflix on July 3rd, I tried not to binge it all in one day because then it would be over (and we still don’t know if there will be a second season yet). This is definitely my feel good watch for July. If you want something that’s a quick watch and just wholesome and fun to escape our current world than this is for you. I always felt so happy after watching and couldn’t wait to watch another. While I was familiar with the franchise--the 90s movie and of course the books (although I was more of a Babysitter Little Sister fan, so I was very excited to see Karen), you don’t have to have any knowledge of the Babysitters Club to enjoy this show. I was hooked just about right away by this new series shown by me watching the first three episodes back to back. I really like how they set up each episode with one girl as the main focus (just like in the books) where she takes over the voice-over narration. Great representation and made modern to fit in with our current times. The first example that comes to mind is when Mary Ann babysits Bailey who is transgender. I liked how Bailey says those are her old clothes while they’re playing. It’s shown in a way that explains the situation without feeling like a lecture. It fits so naturally into the episode. And then Mary Ann’s speech at the hospital is super powerful for both Bailey and herself. This is just one example of how well represented this show is. Extremely strong cast and actresses who are the proper ages. I also love the adult casting and how they threw in a Clueless reference from Alicia Sliverstone (who plays Kristy’s Mom). As someone who is writing for this age group, I really liked hearing and seeing how authentic this show is. 

FEEL THE BEAT

A Netflix original movie that has been on my list for a while that I just got around to watching. It didn’t come out too long ago. In the film, Sofia Carson’s character is a dancer who is a perfectionist. She gets on the bad side of a big NYC producer when she not only leaves her in the rain as she steals her taxi, but also knocks her, accidentally, off stage and becomes a viral video-this basically blackmails her in Broadway. This all happens within about the first 10 minutes of the film and the majority takes place back in her small home town (very Hallmark-like) in Wisconsin. While there her old dancing teacher wants her to share her Broadway wisdom with her young students. Meanwhile Carson has only been a chorus girl, so she doesn’t really have any. What draws her to helping the young girls is the chance to perform in front of a big choreographer that could get her to be the star she always dreamed of. The catch is that it’s the teacher dance in the childrens dance competition. While this might sound like a movie you’ve watched many times before, it was still worth it and a really fun watch. I think the kids really make the movie. They are adorable, funny and super talented. You feel connected with them really fast and want to see them succeed. I loved Dickie and how he joined the group. I think he was my favorite overall. I loved how inclusive the cast was here too (just like BSC) from a mixed race family, to single parents and even a student who was Deaf. It was great seeing the other actors sign to her. Carson’s character, April, can be annoying at times, but you understand it’s her character and something she needs to overcome. As I said before the plot may seem familiar, but the ending was something I didn’t see coming. Overall, wholesome, feel good and fun for the whole family. You can consider to watch while babysitting. (See what I did there??)  

VIOLETTA SEASON 2

She’s back! I know last month when I included Violetta it was mainly me being excited to see the second season FINALLY streaming on Disney Plus. I had watched a few episodes (remember there’s 80 altogether, so even if I watched 20 that’s still very early on and just a dent in the season) and was still getting used to this season. Well, now I’m happy to report I am in the 40s and more than half way. For a bit I was watching many of these episodes a day, which told me that I was loving it again. Recently, I feel I need a little more of a push to watch, but it’s mainly because of certain story-lines that feel like they’re dragging. (For example: Violetta’s voice. One minute it’s fine and the next she’s like dying). For this section I have two words: LOVE TRIANGLES. And I’m not just talking about Violetta, Diego and Leon. For a bit it felt like each character had their own love triangle, which honestly I was loving. These characters have definitely developed a lot from last season, which allows this to happen. Olga was in a love triangle, which just recently got resolved. I think German is still in one because of his alter ego Jeremias. Jackie was “kind of” in one. For her it was more of a misunderstanding, which is very classic on this show. Lots more secrets have been uncovered in these episodes as well as songs! You know how excited I am for those. Overall, I think I’m still enjoying season 1 songs more (which get referenced enough in this season), but some of the season 2 ones are really growing on me. Specifically Leon’s Entre dos mundos and when he sings with Diego Euphoria in English. Also, Yo Soy Asi has been real catchy. I know Frederico will be coming back soon and I can’t wait to see him again!  

HAMILTON

Like many I watched Hamilton this month-actually on the day it came out. It’s been a musical that I’ve been intrigued by, but never thought I’d get a chance to watch because of how popular and expensive it is to see on Broadway. So, I was very excited to hear I’d get the chance when it was to be released in theaters for a special event. Then because of Corona it was released to Disney Plus, which was EVEN more convenient and exciting. I really enjoyed it and watched it twice within the same week. I immediately downloaded the playlist and started singing it around the house. I do this a lot with many of the plays I see, but depending how good they are is shown by how long I listen to the soundtrack. (Some of my top ones are Bandstand, Once, Newsies and Anastasia.) Because there are so many songs in Hamilton it is taking me a little longer to know all the words, but I feel pretty confident with the first act. It was the perfect timing for this to be released on Disney Plus. Not only because it was July 3rd, but also because of the world we are living in. Lin’s diverse cast brings to life the world of 1776 and the revolutionary war (as well as the time after it), but it’s such a strong commentary on our world today. This is something I am continually noticing with historical dramas/pieces being released within the last 5-10 years. It feels like there’s more we can say in this genre than in a commentary piece. I also like all the analysis videos I’ve seen popping up, which just make it even more powerful. (Like it being Eliza’s story and her putting herself back in the narrative. That the play Hamilton is named for both her and Alexander.) I don’t know if all of what I see were intentional, but  either way well done. I hope it doesn’t leave Disney Plus soon. 

1917

And lastly, 1917. I promised quite the range this month and you can see that’s definitely the case. I always enjoy watching war films and with 1917 there was so much hype (both before it came out and after) that I was interested to give it a watch. Giving the movie to my dad for father’s day felt like the perfect excuse to be able to watch it. Even though our DVD stuck in a few places (still don’t know if it was the player or the DVD itself), the film was very entertaining and I would suggest it to anyone who is a history/film buff. Taking place in WWI, we follow two British soldiers as they attempt to deliver a message about an upcoming ambush that could take countless lives. I feel that I often watch more films revolving around WWII, so it was very interesting to be immersed in the first great war. After watching I am not surprised that the film was up for so many Oscars. While cinematography is the first thing everyone discusses when it comes to this movie (and it should be because the one shot/long shot is sooo impressive and beautiful to watch. It really brings you into the scene and has a way of making you feel like you’re there too. There’s a realness to it that’s raw and new compared to other war films I’ve watched in the past), there’s so much more to this film too. First, I like how it connects back to Sam Mendes’ grandfather, so while it’s not a true story it has real facts in it. I LOVE the score and music to this film. In the scene where George Mackay runs at night through those ruined buildings I could really hear how well the music worked with the action. Because of this I made sure to listen to some of the soundtrack and now I’ve added some of the songs into my writing playlist. I have chills just thinking about it. The other point I want to bring up is the cast! While there are SO MANY big names in this film from Colin Firth to Benedict Cumberbatch, the two main characters are played by George Mackay and Dean Charles Chapman and they are the ones with the most screen time. If their chemistry and acting wasn’t so great then the movie wouldn’t be as successful as it is. Because of this I have been watching non-stop YouTube interviews of the two of them for this film. 

They are so well-spoken, stand-up guys and I can’t get enough of their dialogues with each other and others. (You should watch these interviews too). While familiar with Chapman’s time on Game of Thrones, I haven’t seen him in much else, so I’m excited to see what he’ll have in the future (as well as checking out his IMDB page). For Mckay, I’ve seen him before when I just watched Ophelia earlier this summer so that was my first time watching him act. After that film I was curious what else he was in, but it was only after 1917 that I started doing more research. So far, I’ve only been able to watch the short film he was in called Infinite. While only 17 minutes it was very strong and deep. I highly recommend. As I’ve shared on this page already, in another post, the more I hear him talk the more of a crush I am developing. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced a celebrity crush this strong so soon. This quarantine has to end so I can make it to England to just casually bump into him like one does. :) 

[werewolfbarbie]

Halloween Top 5′s

Thought I would start reviewing again! Just not on camera:p for one I want to wait to get back to the review show on Youtube with @breakfast-owl when our new plans come into place and for another I really need to start writing again! So what better time to get my creative juices flowing again then Halloween? 

So for the first week I’m gonna do a Halloween Top 5 List with different categories! 

Today is Top 5 Favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween. And this won’t be listed favorite to least it’s just my favorite top 5 lol

So here we go!

Top 5 Favorite Cartoons:

1. Danny Phantom: A teenager enters his ghost hunting dad’s Ghost Portal and is fused with Ghost DNA, while unleashing all the ghosts into his town. Now as a half boy half ghost, he uses his new powers to protect the town of Amity Park while surviving high school at Casper High. 

Oh my word I LOVE this show. I remember the day I discovered it. Or when I was introduced to it. I was a little girl hanging out with my cousin and my older brother at Papa and Grandmas. Being that my cousin was older it meant one very crucial thing, HE was in charge of the remote. I really wanted to watch Boy Meets World but he didn’t like the episode that was on. I was about ready to pout (my go to reaction as little Janny, which NEVER worked), when he turned to Nick. Danny Phantom was on and he was so excited. He started telling me the plot and I was soon joining in on the excitement. I would later find out that the episode we were watching was the pilot “Mystery Meat”.  As soon as it was over I wanted more! I went home and waited for the next episode to air. It has been part of my life since and every Halloween I can’t wait to watch it with my friends. 

2. Scooby Doo: Three teens and a talking Great Dane travel the world and solve crimes. Crimes that usually include masked villains pretending to be ghosts vampires and other creatures. 

I’ll be covering this show more with my Movies to watch, to my gosh how can I NOT include Scooby Doo on here?! I don’t even know when I first saw this show. It’s just been in my life that whole time. Turn on the TV, no matter what time, and you’ll probably find it. It’s be rebooted and remade many times and most of the reboots have been pretty good! I watch all of them cuz they always get me pumped for the October celebrations. The best memory I have with Scooby Doo is pretty recent. I was working at a video store (BEST. JOB. EVER.) and it was a brisk Autumn week. I was by myself at the store and no customers. As I was cleaning the place, I put in the dvd’s of Scooby Doo and just felt so excited! I got off work one day and headed over to my friend Kayla’s where we watched more Scooby Doo. This show is just so fun and will never end. 

3. Beetlejuice: A ghost from the Neitherworld and his best friend a teenage girl named Lydia journey between the real world and Neitherworld and numerous adventures. That’s..that’s it that’s the plot. 

Now with the show whenever I talk to people about it, the usual response I get is, “There’s a show?” Beetlejuice the Animated Series is based on the famous film Beetlejuice, with few minor tweaks. For one thing, Beetlejuice (the antagonist of the film) is now the protag of the show and he’s best friends with Lydia from the movie. The Maitlands are not in it and I’m pretty sure Delia is her birth mom instead of step mom. I didn’t watch the movie until recently, (sorry @breakfast-owl I tried to wait but it was on at work!) but I LOVED the musical and got the gist of the film. I love this show. It is so funny, so creative, and so nostalgic! I own the entire show on DVD. In fact to show you my love for this show, I was at Walmart where I had to choose between Danny Phantom and Beetlejuice and I chose that one!! (I love you Danny but it’s BJ! The ghost with the most!!)

4. Darkwing Duck: By night he’s Darkwing Duck, protecting the city of St. Canard from evil doers. By day he’s Drake Mallard, single father raising his adopted daughter Gosalyn. Night and day he’s 100% awesome. 

Okay this one is not a Halloweenie type show per se.. but this show is so much fun to watch during Halloween!! I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of the show, the way it mostly takes place in the night, the masked crusader and his masked villains, or just cuz I darn well want to! I’ve talked ALOT about this show on my blog and I plan on reviewing it at the end of season 3 of the reboot of Ducktales once I see where the writers are going with him, but for now it’s on this list. It’s just such a good show guys. SO GOOD. 

5. Casper the Friendly Ghost: A friendly little ghost named Casper searches the world for a friend. 

I watch this classic show every Halloween. I love the theme song (yeah the famous one is “Casper” but I love the instrumental one from the old show). It’s a pretty straight forward plot but I just love the mood it puts me in. The artwork is haunting and the characters that Casper interacts in are so entertaining. Despite them being popular, we don’t really see the uncles til later in the show and they aren’t all that mean to Casper. They just wanna make him scary. Wendy is one of Casper’s best friends so I’m glad he got a movie with her later on. Casper is another character that he continued to be remade and rebooted. I’m ready for another! 

So that’s my top five favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween! Next is my favorite movies. I would love to hear your favorite cartoons!! Feel free to reblog with your response or message me! 

[moviediary]

She’s All That (1999)

Rich and popular makes a bet with his “friend”, whose personality is pretty much summed up by the fact that he has frosted tips, that he can turn any girl into the prom queen after getting dumped by his longtime girlfriend. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love this movie, but every time I watch it I can’t help but be amazed at how absurd it is. I mean, cliché plot aside, every individual piece that makes up this 1 hour and 30 minute ode to the individual is completely insane. What universe does this take place in? What high school do they go to?

That being said, I really like the opening shots to this movie, it definitely gives you a good introduction to the main character. Laney Boggs. She’s political and messy and 100% down to her bones an art student. She isn’t afraid to be dark.

In contrast I feel like the first meeting of the main love interest really doesn’t set him up to be who the writers want you to think he is. I mean he rolls up to school in a bright yellow Jeep with a Mr. Prez vanity plate. Then you see his shoes when he gets out of the car, fuckin’ ugly ass leather loafers. I’m sorry I know this means nothing I just have a hard time believing this jock wears these fucking shoes they’re so god damn ugly.

Every moment that introduces him makes it seem like he should be the villain, he has pretty much no redeeming qualities that we can see besides his wit (barely) and good looks. I just don’t understand why we’re supposed to like him, this is Sixteen Candles all over again. Hot rich guy, is an asshole, for some reason I still root for and love him. How does that work? What makes these characters so grossly likable? I mean, his name is Zack. That alone raises a red flag for me. That’s a frat boy asshole name. Zacks are friends of Kyle that’s all I’m saying.

Once we get through his painfully douchey introduction we get introduced to Zack’s equally douchey friends frosted tips and Gus from psych. (don’t ask me what their actual names are it’s not important anyway, that is essentially their personalities) The first thing we hear is them talking about summer break and their vacations, further driving home how rich they are and how weird it is that adults write movies about teenagers having gratuitous amounts of sex with adults. Then Zach tries unsuccessfully to say something philosophical about them graduating soon (I have to keep reminding myself that he’s supposed to have like the 4th highest GPA in their class) They then meet the most 90s girls I have ever seen. Who I guess are supposed to be popular? One thing I do like is how diverse all the characters are, they don’t all look exactly the same which I feel tends to be a problem with high school movies.

So we finally meet the “popular girl” Taylor Vaughn, Zack’s girlfriend and she immediately breaks up with him (which honestly is probably a good idea anyway) and his “friends” fucking laugh at him which he really had coming. I mean. Look at his hair. 

This launches what is probably one of my favorite narrated flashback scenes of all time, not because the topic is particularly interesting but because I love the way they have Zach interrupt her inside of the flashback. It’s a very small addition that really gives the scene style. Also we see this hot girl start dating Shaggy??? Also one of the villains from the original Scream???( he only really plays one character.) Makes me laugh every time. Also makes me a little uncomfortable every time since she’s in high school and he’s who knows how old but whatever not important. This also leads to one of my favorite exchanges in the whole movie. 

Taylor wraps up her spring break story time with one of the rawest lines I've ever seen in a 90s movie (she really did that to him) and the director throws in a classic high school movie trope, everyone actually caring enough to stop and watch this exchange. And while I usually hate this kind of character worship, since this movie is already so bizarre and unrealistic it actually kinda fits

We then cut to Laney’s art class which includes her teacher that for some reason thinks her art isn’t personal enough and two clown obsessed Lydia Deetz knock offs. I have to say I do love this part where the art students literally suggest that she kill herself in order to have her art recognized. Very realistic conversation between art students. 

That whole scene is really funny though because it doesn’t feel like it belongs in this movie. Even the music doesn't fit which is only emphasized by the sudden bell ringing transition back into a stereotypical high school movie. It reminds me of movies like the craft, the way it’s cut together, the way the characters talk, how Laney just stares straight ahead after not saying anything. It seems like she could have chosen a completely different movie to be in. Like if the movie was a chose your own adventure, she could have been in a different genre entirely and the movie would have been about her and those girls faking her death to get recognition and make money from her paintings. which would have been sick. but that isn't the movie I’m watching. Which I’m reminded of when fucking Zack comes back on screen.

Also right before the scene where the actual bet is introduced we meet the school’s resident DJ??? which isn’t important at all but is so strange that I feel the need to point it out. Like they don’t just have a guy who does the announcements they have like a disc jockey who is just there all the time??? There are just so many little things in this movie that make it so weird.

So fucking Brock pukashells pulls up and Zach just flips. Which is understandable it is a very gross moment but he just fucking goes off about Taylor and how she’s not that great and he could get with any girl in the school. His friends point out that bitch boy forgot that Taylor Vaughn is “an institution” and basically Zach with tits. She’s very important. This is something I never get about movies like this, has anyone actually been to a high school where someone was that well known. But also not liked? Like sure she’s hot, but she’s also a grade A bitch to everyone. and according to Zach nothing more than a C minus GPA in a Wonderbra. 

Once you get through the misogyny plus ultra scene and they finally make the bet, frosted tips has picked the girl Zach has to turn into the prom queen. Scary inaccessible Laney Boggs. He’s got 6 weeks to make her popular. He starts off his first exchange with her in the best way possible. By calling her brother Spaz (as his name). Again, we’re supposed to like this guy I think. I don’t know when he’s supposed to become a likable character but I can’t imagine it’s during all these scenes where he just legit insults people.

I also love all of the clips we get to see from Brock’s time on The Real World Which make me really question why all the girls fan girl over him given that he’s actually the worst, even on the show. We also get introduced to Zack’s sister who probably should have been a lesbian given how queer coded her character is besides the fact that she desperately wants a boyfriend. She even goes to an all girls school it would have been perfect. But alas, this movie is gay-less.

We are then introduced to another b-plot in this movie, Zack’s indecision about college. This was I guess to make him more human? or something? To sort of flesh him out and give him problems but honestly he doesn't have any problems. Later in the movie Laney points this out to him, he can do whatever he wants. This whole college thing is resolved fairly quickly later in the film too, it’s not very important it’s just the only thing we see about Zack besides being a perfect high schooler throughout the whole movie. Well that and his terrible performance art and being an asshole. 

After we see that Zack has been accepted by every Ivy League school and their mother (I’m not jealous I swear) we take a brief Taylor being a bitch detour before getting back to Zack making an ass of himself. This time he’s bothering Laney at her job which is awesome we love that. Again I don’t know why we like this guy he does like 3 nice things the whole movie. Anyway she gets defensive like she always does and he fumbles around trying to talk like he’s a normal person and not a walking cliché and then there’s this really strange exchange where he tries to asked her for help in art classes and she says “you don’t take art” and he’s like “how do you know?” and she’s like “Why haven't I seen you in any of my classes?” and like, I get what they were going for but what kind of high school is this? how does she have time to take more than one art class? How is she already an art major before she’s in college that’s not how high school works. I only ever had one school where I could take more than two extra curriculars and that was in middle school and it was only because they fucked up and put me in four hours of study hall and so I just went to all of the art classes that were offered. But that’s different. And am I way over analyzing this movie? yes. Does anyone but me care about this shit? probably not, but I’m gonna talk about it anyway.

I also really like Laney’s best friend who’s kind of just there, all the time, he’s such a good wing man. He also made the best excuse to get out of seeing that weird ass art show she’s in. He’s like, oh good I don’t have to see another Mitch show. He’s probably in his underwear in all of them, I wouldn’t want to go either. I think it really says something about the performance art world though, because this is probably the most believable part of the whole movie. If someone told me that his is just an actual performance art piece that they used in this movie I would absolutely believe them. Also one of the weird gremlins in this piece says what is probably my favorite quote ever which is “my soul is an island, my car is a Ford” like what the fuck is that I love that so much.

I really want to know how they came up with this shit, it’s so perfect. It also is another one of these parts in the movie that doesn’t really add anything. A lot of the movie is like this, I feel like 90% of this movie is weird filler scenes and the rest in plot. Like it’s so obvious how it’s going to end that you barely even need to watch most of the movie, and even when you do watch most of the movie it always kind of feels like it only half has something to do with the plot. I’m not even going to talk about the weird hacky Sack scene, I can’t handle how embarrassing and cringey it is I pretty much always skip through it. What a dick move of Laney’s to even put him in that situation. The whole “your eyes are really beautiful” scene is also really strange, both his lines and her reaction don’t really make sense. Through most of this movie when they actually talk to each other I feel like they don’t have any chemistry. It’s the same when he subtly blackmails her into going to the beach with him. He’s awkward and barely says anything that prompts a response and then she just goes full WOKE EMO on him and like, they really do have nothing in common I do not understand their relationship. And then his friends show up and he’s like, “If we’re gonna be friends we’ll have to deal with them eventually” which like, 1: wow get some friends you actually like maybe? And 2: how are you guys friends, you’ve barely ever managed to exchange civil words on screen. Actually maybe that makes sense, this is why he thinks this is okay (besides the whole bet thing) maybe he doesn’t realize he’s supposed to actually like his friends and girlfriend. Because it really seems like he doesn’t like any of them, which I get. Except for Gus (not his name but whatever) because that guy’s actually pretty funny and spends the whole movie calling frosted tips out whenever he sounds too much like Kenny from Can’t Hardly Wait.

The whole beach scene is kinda take it or leave it too, there are a lot of moments where we see Laney hang out with Zack and other people but honestly through the whole movie there really isn’t a whole lot of growth. We don’t actually really see them bond or talk, we’re supposed to believe their relationship is growing but I guess that must be happening off screen because I don’t see it.

One of my favorite parts is when Zack forces the JV soccer team to clean Laney’s house, the kid answering the jeopardy question and her dad just realizing they were there. Oh man, gets me every time. The makeover scene is also pretty cute, I always love those. Also the whole “new, not improved, but different Laney Boggs” thing is adorable and I appreciate it.

The evolving of the characters and their relationships don’t happen gradually, what little is actually shown is pretty much in like 3 parts, the opening, the party scene, and the end. The characters are very flat for most of the movie and they have very little personality, but the party scene is very fun to watch. From “Gracias, papi!” to Laney turning Misty into a clown, and then the Give it to Me dance sequence. And even though the characters haven’t really given me a good reason to care about them my heart still hurts a little for Laney when Taylor ruins her dress. That’s the thing about this movie, I shouldn’t care, I shouldn’t like these characters, but I still do, and I have no idea why.

The Brock dumping Taylor thing was great, the parallel was expected but I actually think it added to the story. In fact most of the things after the party actually feel necessary to the movie which is nice. Even the soccer practice actually leads to something. I don’t know what it is about the 2nd quarter of this movie that feels so empty but whatever it is it’s enough that I saw a noticeable difference when I got to the third act of this movie.

It’s a small part but I also really love the alternative clubs that make signs in favor of Laney for prom queen. They’re just so fucking funny to me. I mean, Hygiene club? Prisoners club??? What?

Then they pull another fast feelings thing on me again. They throw the mom painting scene at me and like, wow that’s sad. Then Zack tries to garner sympathy for the problems that he makes for himself. Then boom they flip on me again they’re cute and I like them. Then she says that weird thing about prom and he just dips man. And like, Why do they gotta do me like that? I cannot seem to decide if I like these characters or not it’s so weird how this dialogue is written.

And then the dream happens? Definitely one of the best scenes in the whole movie. So fucking perfect. It really just adds to the weird slight surrealness of this whole movie.

Then we go back to the school and suddenly everyone is dressing like Laney? In support I guess? Again can I just ask what fucking school they go to? And then there’s the beat boxing scene? Where they rap about who’s gonna be prom queen? I’ve never even met anybody that invested in the outcome of who’s gonna be prom queen except for those running. I don’t even think I know anybody who voted. Even so, I do love the beat box scene, they really spit some bars.

Also I just noticed that in that super fucked cafeteria scene, you can see Buffy make a cameo? Just a fun little trivia fact. But seriously that cafeteria scene is fucked. Like, the pubes on the pizza? I wish no one had thought of that ever. Also can I just say I would undoubtedly rather get my ass kicked than be forced to eat pubes. I don’t know what they were thinking that isn’t even a question.

It’s also really uncomfortable how good frosted tips is at acting like he’s not a douchebag. What a creep. If that were a real guy I’d be tempted to call him a sociopath. So gross. But I suppose it’s good for the story line.

The end of the movie wraps up pretty fast honestly. Zack’s dad and him finally communicate which fixes Zack’s only problem immediately because that’s just how easy it is. He was just projecting the whole time, his dad had literally no problems other than being a typical rich dad. Then of course we get another moment with the school DJ who I guess just gets to play and say what ever he wants whenever he wants. Am I the only one who thinks it’s really inappropriate how sexual that guy’s announcements about prom are? Maybe it’s just me and I had a really different high school experience but I feel like people are way too focused on sex when they make movies about high school. Other shit was going on you know? It’s just odd for me to think about grown adults writing and pitching this movie.

Zack really is such a bitch boy though, he doesn’t even try to explain anything to her, just lets her get hurt and lets Taylor be a bitch to her without saying anything. He doesn’t even try to tell her that frosted tips was just as much a part of it as he was. Honestly I kind of wish that frosted tips wasn’t such an asshole his whole heart to heart with her at the door before prom could have been really cute if I didn’t already know he was a lying scumbag. But I guess Laney just gets the lesser of the douchebags.

We finally get to the prom, inarguably the best part of the whole movie, all the little bits and pieces. The sex doll guy is always funny as hell. The DJ being the school DJ works really well brings a lot of closure to that whole weirdness. Also that dance scene is fucking great, has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, which actually works since about 40% of the things in this movie have nothing to do with the plot of this movie. I absolutely unironically tried to learn this dance, man I fucking wish prom was actually like this. I don’t know about you guys but for me, both of my proms were not nearly this theatrical. I spent my first one playing black jack the whole time and my senior prom was full of people that were way too white to dance. Anyway, Laney doesn’t win and she leaves early. Zack gives a pretty boring speech. Taylor goes off on everyone. Frosted tips tries to get Laney in bed and everyone gets upset.

The whole thing ends with Laney coming home to find Zach waiting for her to make sure she’s okay, which is sweet and all but like I can’t help wondering how long he had just been standing there waiting. Especially since it seemed like her dad was just ignoring him. That’s just a funny image to me. Anyway, they dance in the backyard. They kiss. It’s cute. Zack loses the bet so he accepts his diploma naked which I’m pretty sure is indecent public exposure but sure.

Overall it’s a very cute movie. The clichés are sort of made up for by all the weird 90s movie things. Plus it has a pretty great soundtrack. I know I sort of really went in on this movie but to be honest I really enjoy watching it. I’m not sure why. It’s pretty bad when you think about it any deeper than surface level. But it’s also just really fun and the characters are weird and there’s too many duffel bags to be normal and it’s just funny. It’s really weirdly funny. And it has that same non-conclusion that a lot of teen rom-coms have where they just can’t really give you all that much and just make sure they’re happy even if you know there is no way they can continue a relationship outside of high school. It may sound like it, but I’m not mad at it. If you haven’t already I’d say watch it. Watch it as a relaxing mindless good time activity. At the very least you won’t be bored, but if you get sympathy embarrassment like I do then maybe skip a few parts.

As of right now this movie is not available for free on any streaming sites (yes I own it on DVD don’t @ me)

Final Verdict:

Actual movie review: 6/10

How fun is it to watch?: 8/10

[adamwatchesmovies]

Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time (2004)

Unless you’re a fan of the Inuyasha TV show, there nothing in Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time for you. Even for fans of the series, there’s nothing about this 100-minute movie that’s any better than watching a 5-episode story arc.

Kagome (Moneca Stori) is a normal 16-year-old who falls into her family's well. The plunge transports her back in time to feudal Japan where she finds a half-demon named Inuyasha (Richard Ian Cox), the two go on a search for the shards of the Shikon Jewel, which empower any demon who possesses them and when reassembled, has the ability to turn Inuyasha into a full demon. Having fallen for him, Kagome hopes to convince him, instead to become fully human. On their quest, Kagome and Inuyasha are joined by a cursed lecherous monk named Miroku (Kirby Morrow) and a female demon hunter Sango (Kelly Sheridan).

Our heroes now face a powerful new enemy, the insect-affiliated Menomaru (Vincent Gale), who seeks to use the power of Inuyasha’s sword, the Tetseiga, in order to rule the world.

The obvious love and dramatic plots which receive minimal development in order to string the audience along, the overabundance of comic relief characters are flaws found in the TV series and are therefore "not this film's fault". The problem with Inuyasha the Movie is the same you can expect from any number of movies based on television series from Japan: the film has no consequences or bearings on the story whatsoever. The personalities of the characters are not developed further and they don't learn anything new or experience injuries that will haunt them later, no one gets killed, no new ground is broken at all. You could be a huge fan of the Inuyasha show, never even hear about this movie and not notice.

The plot is exactly like the plot of the television show. We are introduced to a bad guy and, surprise, surprise, it’s a demon. This time, however, he’s not after the shards of the Shikon jewel but after ultimate power! What is he going to do after he kills every living thing on Earth? Nobody knows because he never speaks or dreams of anything else. Menomaru is a bland, one-dimensional villain. He has two sexy female sidekicks but they don’t really have personalities either, just colourful powers to distract Sango and Miroku while Inuyasha and Kagome save the day. Instead of showing Inuyasha’s half-brother Sesshomaru and making teenage girls SQUEE pointlessly, how about pushing something, ANYTHING, further? 

The dialogue in the film is frustrating and repetitive. It’s typical in Japanese television to have characters spell out what is happening, but is it necessary to have it in the English dub as well? I can tell that Inuyasha is passing out because his eyes are glazing over and he is starting to lose his balance. I don’t need him to tell me. As for the story itself, it alternates between nutty and cliché-ridden. There is a part where some of Inuyasha’s teammates get mind controlled by one of Menomaru’s minions. What do you bet the thing that breaks the spell is either friendship or love? Give me a break. I also really don’t think the people who wrote the film understand how time travel works. As Menomaru's power grows, he begins draining power from the future, which plunges Japan in a perpetual winter. Wouldn’t that create all kinds of weird time paradoxes?

On a technical level, the movie isn’t particularly impressive either. The animation is about as good as the TV show, with a scene of badly integrated CGI thrown in to show us how awesome Menomaru’s powers are. You’ve got all of the typical anime action movie tropes on display. This, combined with the abundant exposition makes it easy to follow.

Affections Touching Across Time isn’t terrible, but it’s completely inconsequential. It’s only for die-hard fans of the television series that just can’t get enough of it, even when it gets repetitive. If you do see it, stick around for a post-credit scene. (English dub on DVD, September 17, 2014)

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Season 1 Episode 9 “Yeah, Just Do Your Best, Iida”

mysterylover123

And we’re back to worldbuilding! These little interviews are great little snapshots of each character. BTW this reporter lady is the same one from Camino Ward and Hosu. Hope she got a raise out of that!

This bit with Bakugou is awesome, as he calmly accepts Aizawa’s advice and acknowledges his failures, as does MIdoriya. They changed this completely in the dub, BTW, having Bakugou be disrespectful to Aizawa (and of course, because they’re the main characters, they’re the only ones whose grades we hear. Darnit.) Also, unrelated, but Bakugou’s unbuttoned shirt collar is sexy.  

Class rep time. Full disclosure, first time around I didn’t know what a Class Rep was. Had to watch more anime to figure that out. I’m not entirely clear (because I can’t read Japanese) on how the voting turned out - the chart makes it look like Deku and Jiro both got 3? But they didn’t...anyway, Deku and Momo! I kinda wish they would hang out more, they’re fairly similar and seem like they’d have a fun dynamic.

Love the anime’s added little head tilt from Shoto. Not in the manga. This whole sequence is hilarious and adorable.

Now for some Iichako! Ochaco noticing Iida talks like a rich kid, Ochaco complimenting him on his smile, Ochaco (and Deku) being the only kids at school who Iida told about his identity...it’s all very wholesome and sweet. Until I remember what happens to Tensei and the Ingenium theme starts playing in my head...goddamit...

Good, a distraction! So what did cause this perimeter breach, BTW? Kurogiri? I mean, he can just warp people in wherever, so was it really just the press? But why did Shigaraki dissolve the front door? Does this have something to do with the UA traitor? No idea. I’m sure Traitor Theorists have picked this section apart enough already, though. 

Iidaraka teamwork! Iida being awesome here. This is actually really clever as a means to solve the problem, TBH. There are so many smart characters in this show, and the ones who aren’t have that fact pointed out as a visible issue. I love it; so many shows out there feel like the plot only happens because the characters have to avoid smart choices or obvious solutions. BNHA, not so much.

All Might being this good even in his weakened state hypes me up for how insanely OP Deku will be at full power. Like holy crap.  

Still not sure what the payoff will be for Tsuyu being onto Deku’s quirk. Guess it’s just a means to introduce her character. 

I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I like this section so much, but makeste’s reaction to this scene in the manga sums it up well: “what I really like about this is that I didn’t necessarily expect this dynamic, but it makes sense. these are all kids whose dearest ambition is to become superheroes. they’ve been accepted into the most elite and selective hero course in the country (world?). of course they aren’t going to fall in line according to the typical high school social structure. these are a bunch of wannabe do-gooders – they’re going to value heroic traits like kindness and selflessness, and conversely they’re going to come down hard on anyone who’s mean and self-absorbed which in this case means that for the first time in his life, the bully has become the bullied. poor Bakugou, you’re learning so many life lessons the hard way and you’re barely into your first week yet” (https://makeste.tumblr.com/post/177920533853/bnha-chapter-013-today-i-fucked-up)

Also give it a couple hundred chapters and Kaminari will be getting up in this guy’s face and calling him Kacchan. Character Development!

And finally to the USJ! The villains are in the building, people! Damn, I just finished reading chapter 239, and re-watching this is like “whoa, man, they sure leveled up, huh?” Trying to even conceive of what Season 5 is gonna be like, when they finally get there...it’ll feel like a totally different show. (Also, big FMA fan, so whenever Dub! Tomura talks, all I hear is Kimblee.)

So that’s episode 9! It’s sort of a transition/slice of life ep, so there’s really not a ton that happens. It’s quite endearing and sets up a lot of important stuff. Mostly it reminds me of the bigger things to come in the future.

BKDK Corner:

LOL at Baku blowing up over Deku being voted Class rep. He never stops thinking of you, Deku. 

“I felt like I just had to tell him.” Honesty is the cornerstone of a healthy marriage, All Might. You know that. (manga pic from Kira-Elric’s post instead of anime scene, for the highlight)

Best Girl of the Ep: Reporter Lady

Ranker: Favorite Combo Moves:

5 Hot Air (Todoroki and Inasa)

4 Meteor Fafrotskies (Uraraka and Asui)

3 Double Detroit Smash (Deku and All Might)

2 Infinite 100% Full Cowl (Deku and Eri)

1 Fire + Nitroglycerin (Bakugou and Todoroki)

[takaraphoenix]

Review: Descendants 3

Listen, I know that first big number is supposed to be like uplifting and “Oh wow how awesome” - and the number itself is awesome, but the scene? Yikes.

Not only did every single villain, regardless of their crimes get banished to that island, the fact that there are this many orphans and abandoned kids – because none of those kids actually sleep at a house with their parents – who have been imprisoned for close to two decades with no trial and no committed crimes is absolutely horrifying. The good guys just... decided that dozens of children should never ever be granted a first chance at all. And it took Ben to come up with that and even then they only granted four kids a chance and only on movie three, some more get to go, still not all even though they should have really learned their lesson and realized those are children?

I'm sorry, I love this franchise, I really genuinely love this franchise, but that premise is still absolutely horrifying and makes the great Disney heroes more villainous than the actual villains, because even for most of the actual villains, a life-long sentence really is more than the crime at hand deserrves.

The whole premise is just genuinely upsetting and this movie in particular just drives home how messed-up it really is. It's like from movie to movie, they focus more and more on just how messed-up that premise is and yes, sure, this one has a very satisfying ending on that matter, but that doesn’t make it any less messed up, you know?

Moving on.

Hades as a punk is amusingly ridiculous. Though I do absolutely love that this movie they finally address the whole “it takes two to make a baby” issue. Gotta admit, Hades/Maleficent is a god-tier ship. (Though I would have loved to hear who the other parent of the others are...)

I just love the solo number from Audrey?  I also love that she gets more focus now, because honestly? I find her a fascinating character. Sure, she's kind of a bully toward the VK's, but every time we hear Leah talk, we hear where Audrey's words come from – she's been raised and formed by them and she has been pushed and pushed toward one direction from her and instead of being compassionate toward her granddaughter, Leah is now blaming her for ruining the family?? I just love a complex character who isn't Just Bad or Just Good. (Also Sleeping Beauty is my favorite and Aurora is my princess, so I might just be a tiny bit biased toward her daughter too.)

There is also something insanely stupid about them keeping all of the important, strong artifacts in a museum and not in a vault. Like all people of Auradon are super mega duper nice and good guys. It's a very problematic assumption and ridiculous to think that no Auradon citizen has ever like... stolen something or committed any crime at all? Or is the fear of being banished and having all your descendants also be banished for the smallest crime that keeps the citizens in line...?

I absolutely adore Evie. She really is the voice of reason and she knows how unfair it is that only the four of them got to live in Auradon. I love her so much.

Gods, I am absolutely in love with evil!Audrey?? She's perfect. Not just the shallow attempt at making her the bad guy like in the first movie, where it was kind of a stretch considering Mal's mom literally tried to murder her parents so like I wouldn't be the first in line to become Mal's bff either and then Mal publically steals Audrey's boyfriend... But this is... such a good arch for her?

I also love that Facilier is actually... seemingly.. a loving dad? Like, they have their own little dance ritual and all? I do love that while Maleficent and Cruella didn't really care about their kids, the Evil Queen and Facilier are shown to care about their kids, even Lady Tremaine seems to care about her granddaughter? Because being a villain doesn't make them 100% evil.

What this franchise is doing really well is broadening the world, exploring it more, even if I don't agree with the main premise of said world. The way it introduces more characters and develops them is awesome. I just love all the characters! And the cast really helps too, because damn, it's such a great cast.

And my Uma/Mal shipping heart is very delighted by the fact that Mal and Uma team up here?? Their dynamic is incredible. I already loved it in the last movie, but this movie explores it so much more thoroughly and they play off each other so well.

And I might just OT3 Uma/Mal/Audrey.

Harry being jealous of Jay and Gil bonding is also very adorable. Gil is just... such a pure character and seeing his amazement at everything is a delight to watch.

That CARLOS IS THE ONE WHO GETS TO “TAME” BEN... My shipper-heart really likes that?

To get back to my opening points about how wrong this world's judgment calls are – damn, that scene of Hades in Audrey's bedroom was fucking amazing. “When you guys try to destroy the world, it's an error in judgment. But when it's one of us? Look 'em up, throw away the key. Right, Beast?” - very powerful, very amazing, love it. I love that they brought up just how fundamentally wrong this world's design is and that things aren't black and white (that, however, does not make it any less uncomfortable that this world operated like this for so long!). The conclusion, Mal's speech at the end, it was incredibly satisfying and it was the right decision.

I am... genuinely, really in love with this movie? I was a little afraid the third one would mean a drop in quality, because sequels tend to do that, but this franchise just... keeps getting better with its sequels? The music is amazing throughout all three movies, the characters keep getting better the more they get to do, I'm obsessed with the costume and character design, honestly you had me at the whole Disney princess crossover premise already because that part of the premise is absolutely my jam. This was a more than worthy conclusion for the Descendants franchise and that makes me incredibly relieved and happy.

[poeedamerons]

I have so many opinions on the new movie and shockingly not all bad. I had low expectations for this new movie after the last jedi, because I hated that movie will all the strength in my body so I had all about given up even liking anything but what a wild ride people.

• I LOVED how we FINALLY got our trio. This is what was a mission on both the force awakens and the last jedi: the trio working together and being focused on the common goal instead of being apart, doing their own thing and in Poe and Rey’s case they only met at the end o episode 8. This a very big win.

• What made me like this movie way more than the last jedi is that FINALLY everyone is back to being the character we were introduced and loved back in the force awakens. What makes me despise the last jedi is that everyone acts out of character so all the things they did were off to me. I mean Poe would have never done have of the stupid shit he did on episode 8 if he was acting like himself and not the Rian Johnson version of it. So I felt that this story linked way much better with the force awakens and I will just pretend the last jedi never happened

• This whole saga would have been better if the last jedi had never happened and JJ had been able to kero his narrative for the 3 movies. I am not saying it would have been perfect, but it would have been way more star wars like

• All of this saga would have been perfect if Rey was Ben’s sister a la Jacen and Jaina Solo. I hate reylo but they didn’t even make it decent, it was ridiculous and pathetic and embarrassing. They could have taken 2 roads with Rey being his sister, with it being a revelation on the rise of skywalker or something everyone knew from the beginning and Rey had started the force awakens a path to ‘save’ her brother. That narrative would have been perfect and 100% star wars vibe

• I can’t fucking believe they did Domhall and Hux this dirty. His character was delegated to be comic relief and they made Domhall show up to be that ridiculous. The wasted Hux crazy nazi potential, because if he had broken the first order in two sections after his and Kylo’s fight would have been awesome.

• Palpatine? Really??? Everything about the Palpatine storyline was unnecessary and desperate. Rey his grandchild? Doesn’t that make her related to Ben? This is fucked up and really bad and desperate writing.

• I am still stuck on what Finn was going to say. Was he going to tell her about his love or that he is force sensitive???

• THE LENGTHS OF NO HOMO DISNEY TOOK TO KILL ANY POE X FINN POSSIBILITIES IT MAKES ME WANT TO SET DISNEYLAND ON FIRE. They shoved two new female characters just to say LOOK, STRAIGHT BOYS. INTO GIRLS. JUST GIRLS. NO BOYS. Honestly, it would have been perfect. That moment they hug at the end? Perfect moment for a kiss. I would have died happy.

• Rey is such a Mary Sue. She does shit that not even Master Jedis did and they trained way more. She instantly knew how to heal and how to do that thing where they tell people what to think. She could fix anything, she knew how to fly anything better than anyone and she has a connection with Ben/Kylo that is basically royalty in the star wars verse and he became connected and into her enough to chase her through the galaxy so they can 'rule’ together. She is sensitive, kind, pretty, funny, gets Poe’s droid in the end. And she wasn’t 'anyone’ like we all thought, she is from Palpatine’s line and super ridiculously powerful. Like I am legit annoyed with her character.

• Rose. Never saw what was the point of her character on episode 8, but wow. They just… threw her to the side and gave her existence no meaning. Big injustice to Marie.

• I was not upset by Leia’s death. I know it had no BIG MOMENT OF AWESOMENESS, but I thought quite poetic that she died trying to reach for her son

• The whole Leia jedi and surrendering her saber because she felt what her son would be was the dumbest shit I have ever seen, dear lord why.

• Also, the fact that they knew who she was and just carried on like that would not be relevant at all was ridiculous

• Luke. What was up with that wig????

• Also, Luke found everything and still stayed in the island and later when Rey was there he said shit???? I am sorry, but have they seen the same OG movies as I did??? That is not the Luke Skywalker we know. His fucking ship was there with all they needed to find Palpatine, I mean. I just can’t.

• I can’t believe they WITHHELD THE GOLD THAT IS EVERY INTERACTION BETWEEN POE AND C3PO. We have been BLESSED. I loved every single moment of it.

• Loved how Poe took leadership, but this time, unlike episode 8, the risk he puts everyone in is with an actual plan, their last hurrah and not some ploy just to reckless.

• Kylo. I like star wars villains, but Kylo I had weird feelings. Loved him during the force awakens but hated on the last jedi. For the rise of Skywalker I was upset that they did this white boy redemption arc like he was some poor child that was forced to do it all like he was a victim. I hated this “he only went dark because he heard voices in his head” and not because as a Jedi and Skywalker the dark side is something that calls to a part of him and he eventually followed that path. ALSO WHY IS EVERYONE SHOCKED HE DIES??? Redemption arcs came with a price or do you think Anakin was the only one that was going to die??? Its been obvious bitches.

• His death and the kiss. Oh boy. Horrible and embarrassing.

• All the tears to the voices of Ewan MacGregor, Liam Neeson and HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN when Rey calls in for the Jedi. That scene was too emotional, thank you JJ.

• The moment Lando calls Poe and we see all the people that answered their call? Chills. Also, Poe’s speech rings SO MUCH with what we are going through in the world.

• I can’t believe they killed everyone in Poe’s squadron. It was hard seeing Snap go. RIP my boys.

• The fact that Poe was a spice smuggler had me annoyed at first but is very him. Smuggling is kind of dangerous and it fits in his wild and reckless persona, but it was SPICES. So it wasn’t dangerous enough to be something horrible and criminal, but stupid enough to give him the adventure high he craves. Honestly, brilliant.

• R2D2, C3PO, BB8 and Chewie: ICONIC from the BEGINNING TO THE END. I will not be taking other opinions on this.

• Poe and Finn going: General, General gave me LIFE. Cute morons.

• Oscar, Adam and John were SEX ON LEGS every second of this movie. Special thanks to the figurine department for all the choices they made for Poe (scarf and no scarf? Loved thank you for those moments of chest hair). And Kylo’s final clothes? That shirt? Everything.

• Babu Frik was cuteeeeeeeeee.

• PORGS.

This all I can remember now. Will add more when I watch again or after I talk to my friends about it more.

[archmage--khadgar]

Hia! I always feel happy when I see one of your posts pop up on here c: why do you like Khadgar?

*Stares into space* OH GOD THIS IS gonna probably be a long post. HERE WE GO.So uh. I always really like Karazhan and the lore around it, hardcore fell in love with Medivh and pretty much ANYTHING in game that was connected I ate it up. I got the urn, the keys, all the rings, all the rep, you name it. I tried SO HARD to get Atiesh from the old Naxx but that didn’t happen. (I AM STILL SAD ABOUT THAT.) So that was -kind of- the start. In order for the next part to make sense, need to sidestep and backtrack a wee bit for context.Not to be all sob story, but I gotta be honest, I spent most of my childhood alone (either outside or in my room), reading, playing out epic stories with my toys, exploring the outdoors, and most of my social interactions with people I was either being bullied by kids at school or my mother. And y’know, despite all the stories I read or watched on t.v it was a loooong while before there were characters that made me go….”Holy SHIT I know what that’s like!?” Like there was a difference, to me, between characters like Michelangelo and Beetlejuice that I REALLY WANTED to hang out with, and then a character that made me go….”I know exactly how that character feels. What happened to them, happened to me.”Digimon was the show that broke that mold for me when not only were there two characters who had DIVORCED PARENTS!??? Like me, there was a girl who had a REALLY BAD and unhealthy relationship with her mother. (But she was still powered by love, which was awesome.)This kinda started getting me into other stuff because the more characters I found that I could relate to, the easier it was to explain how I felt to strangers and it made friend finding a little bit easier. FAST FORWARDING A LITTLE BIT.

So I certainly have a character -type- that I relate to the most. And it’s chaotic bookwork with anxiety. Fun fact: I am always dubbed “the twilight sparkle” of friend groups IRL because I was always, ALWAYS the one who was solving friendship problems and I did that looong before the show. OOPH. THE BIG PROBLEM. Was that it was getting to the point where all the chaotic bookworms were either: Evil, female (and I love gals, but that’s not my gender identity ORZ), or like. largely hated by the fandom and were always mocked.Or some combination.SO LIKE. Hey, I get introduced to Medivh and his TOWER OF BOOKS and all that shit and it’s like “Fuck yeah sign me up bro, living alone? Shitty mom? I feel you.” But then, y’know. He was a wee bit possessed and not. Exactly the good guy SO THERE WAS THAT.And then. There was Khadgar.I hadn’t been able to find the last guardian book yet, though I had read about the lore highlights online so I was familiar and stuff.And then WoD came out. And Khadgar! Was doing stuff! Which got me excited because it was more of the Lore that I really liked, and during MoP, I was hardcore going…”THE LEGION IS COMING BAAAACK. I JUST KNOW IT. CAUSE WE DIDN’T KILL KJ. SKREE.” I got called crazy and stupid a few times BUT HEY. Jokes on you fuckers I was *right*.Anyways!That first quest chain into Tannan rolls in. And it’s just. Khadgar. Being Khadgar. “Well, then I guess we owe you one.” scene hit every…“Oh fucking god bless Khadgar for the sarcastic sass”Because I really enjoy sarcasm and it’s more obvious in voice chat or in-person but my sass rhythm and tone, especially if I’m ranting is veeery similar to Khadgar’s sass.And then the PUNS. Listen. *Listen*. I hear an opportunity for a pun and I have to take it. I have to. If I try to hold it in my face starts smiling like the Cheshire cat and I sometimes let out a high pitched “eeeeeee” until given permission. After that quest chain, I quickly noticed that no one had rolled a Khadgar blog. No one! And well, I was all about having a blog where I could be free to make jokes all the time. IIRC, my first post was…”The party has arrived~!” Or something like that. I honestly didn’t expect much to happen cause I didn’t have any friends or anything like that and all the wow blogs all pretty much had their followings already and I was uh…a WEE BIT ALONE. But I was like “well even if this blog doesn’t go off I’ll at least have an outlet where I can just be me where no one will harass me.”Cause gotta be honest, I’ve never been well-liked. There was never a place for bookworms who liked puns and had anxiety in the world I lived in. If I acted like myself I was hated, and in order to fit in, I had to be someone else, which was a ditzy stupid, lazy girl. I wasn’t allowed to be trans, (still not back in Maine), or smart, and….yeah.  But hey! On tumblr, I can RP a male character that had my same sense of humor and sass and BE MYSELF and NOT BE A GIRL and all my IRL haters wouldn’t be able to stop me.And then uh, A THING HAPPENED. I no longer have the original blog because of reasons I’ll mention later, so I CAN’T REMEMBER who first started sending me asks but I know @kiyastrasza was one of them (she passed away suddenly a few months ago and I miss her SO MUCH.) But then like, I DON’T KNOW. I know I got a few initial asks because “fuck yeah finally a khadgar blog”  and honestly, I thought my blog was rubbish because it was 80% me just being my sassy nerd self and 20% studying his word usage for more serious things and getting my hands on every scrap of Khadgar related lore.”So I fully expected to get called out on being canon divergent or a shitty Khadgar or SOMETHING. Or have people ONCE AGAIN be like….”This character archetype is annoying and stupid and we all fucking hate him and hate you for rping him.”But that didn’t happen. In fact the EXACT OPPOSITE HAPPENED.My ask box kept getting filled with puns to be approved, rhyming his name with stuff became a thing and now even BLIZZ says “Dadgar” like jfc what even.And then like. I don’t even know, a lot of it is a blur because it all happened so fast but the BIGGEST THING.Was that for the first time ever, being myself wasn’t met with bullying and hate and people telling me to shut up and go away or anything like that.People -loved- Khadgar in-game. And people -loved- finding a Khadgar blog that “when I read their posts I can hear Khadgar’s voice”.  And better yet? KHADGAR WASN’T A VILLAIN! (Don’t get me wrong, I loooove AU’s but imagine being a kid and you can only ever connect to villains and then people hate you anyways IT DOESN’T FEEL TOO GREAT).And uh. Yeah. I don’t really know where to go with this. But yeah! It was the first time where I felt like nothing was wrong with who I was. That there was nothing wrong with being book smart and having a sense of humor and looking death in the face and just eye-rolling and going “Well aiight.”I mean hell yeah there’s been an epic shit ton of drama with people being jealous and making shit up and who the hell even knows what any of that was about anymore, and there’s still plenty of bullshit in my life keeping me otherwise miserable and I’m getting really frustrated that every goal I try to accomplish gets utterly destroyed in some way and I’m currently an emotional husk and I 100% HAVE NOT been myself lately as I’m a mix of grieving and severely hurt and physically ill and I’ve been broken pretty damn hard and when I pull myself back together it’s probably going to be like. 11th Doctor just turning into cranky 12 and not being pleasant BUT. The muse is still strong, the muse is honestly probably the strongest thing about me. Not because I think that I’m actually, really Khadgar and that’s ME you’re talking to in game and Azeroth is real, etc, etc. But it’s strong because that type of muse was already something that was effortless for me and part of my personality foundation. And before the blog it was withering away and crumbling and I had no self-love to keep it going anymore and then the blog happened, and even though I still have 0 self-love, I genuinely hate myself, the love from others healed it, and my love for the character, I think, is my subconscious finding a weird loophole to get around the self-hate because I CAN’T HATE KHADGAR, and fucking hell whenever I make a pun irl and someone is a shithead about it or calls me annoying over voice chat, my brain is like. “Yeah, but if Khadgar were real. He’d laugh.” And eventually, it’s like….”OKAY FINE. IT WAS FUNNY. THAT PERSON IS JUST A SHITHEAD.” I can’t remember where I was going with that. Uhhhhhh……SOMETHING SOMETHING.I absolutely hate myself and feel as if I’m undeserving of love because I’m a horrible, broken person that makes stupid mistakes and is only good for hurting others and being a bitchB U TI hate myself a little bit less when I RP a character, like Khadgar, that lines up with one of my personality foundations, and the general response to it is people loving it and telling them I make them happy.  I’ve still had more hate directed at me in the past (and sadly the present) than I have love. But uh. It doesn’t take much love to get me all sappy and crying and happy.  (Hate is a tossup, a lot of hate I can take but certain, specific things will strike me hard and fast).SO LIKE. Uh. I know the majority of my foundation at the moment is either destroyed or heavily damaged, cause I’ve also been heckin angry a lot lately and I don’t know how to deal with that at all since it’s something new so a lot of my foundation wasn’t protected against that, and I’ve certainly died emotionally a few times more this year than my normal rate of it taking a couple years or more to emotionally die and regenerate. BUT THE PART that’s still holding fast and bouncing off all the negative self-destructive shit is because of Khadgar, and all 1,297 of you (give or take) that’ve either stuck with this blog since the beginning and through a blog deletion and change or have come recently. That send in everything from ARCANE MEAT to puns, to AU ideas to random nice things SO UH. This is turning into an awkward unexpected thank you, to all of you. dashjkIt’s more than likely that I will live the rest of my life absolutely hating myself, and it’s possible that the rest of my foundations may never heal or be repaired. Even though I can easily attach some of them to characters like Khadgar for the most part, I just….eh. I dunno. No outlet and it’s not prompted ever and…it hurts still cause they’re broken. Which, eh, whatever, healing can’t be forced or half-assed, cause you can’t expect a broken leg to heal as fast as a papercut, all you can do is wait and let things heal or you’ll make it worse, but then obviously you can’t heal EVERYTHING otherwise no one would ever be disabled, but REGARDLESS.I may always hate myself. But I’ll always love Khadgar. And YOU guys love Khadgar. And you enjoy me rping Khadgar. So then I guess MAAAAYBE.It helps. With making it worth. Sticking around for a little bit longer.  :T